FAYETTEVILLE -- A public website detailing the search for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's next chancellor will soon be unveiled, with a general outline of the search process released Monday.
"There are six phases of the search and the committee is currently in Phase 2-Planning. While in the planning phase, the committee will finalize the job description and the desired characteristics and experience for the next chancellor," the university said in a statement.
UA listed the first stage as announcement/formation of the search and search committee. The 17-person group appointed by UA System President Donald Bobbitt met for the first time Thursday in Fayetteville.
"We will recommend candidates to the president, and then the president will make a selection for the board of trustees to approve," said Laura Jacobs, a committee member and UA's associate vice chancellor for university relations.
The group will help find a replacement for Chancellor G. David Gearhart, who announced in January plans to step down July 31. Dan Ferritor, a former UA chancellor, will take over in an interim role.
The other phases of the search listed by UA include recruiting, evaluation, selection and appointment.
No public notice was posted in advance of the Fayetteville meeting, which Jacobs said lasted roughly 2.5 to 3 hours.
In addition to committee members, Jan Greenwood and Marion Frenche from the search firm Greenwood/Asher and Associates Inc., attended the meeting -- as did Bobbitt -- according to UA.
Jacobs said the search firm, which is being paid $90,000 plus $65,000 in expenses, presented information from the American Council on Education detailing demographic information about college presidents.
"We had sort of an open forum conversation," Jacobs said, with discussion about "the desired characteristics and attributes that the committee sees as being important for the next chancellor to have."
She said work continues on a specific position description, which will be used to advertise the job nationally and also be posted on the public website for the chancellor search.
"People from many different types of backgrounds could be potential candidates," Jacobs said. Asked if the committee is looking for someone with a background in academia, Jacobs said, "higher education experience would be likely part of that" background.
However, she said it is "too early" to discuss any specific background requirements.
"Without having completed the position description, it's difficult to really say there are any 'must haves,'" Jacobs said.
UA System spokesman Nate Hinkel said the meetings are closed to the public.
"This committee is not a governing body and has not been delegated any decision-making authority," Hinkel wrote in an email to explain why the meeting was not open. "All candidates for the job will be considered equally and none will be ruled out by the committee, even if recommendations are made for the President's consideration."
The public website will be "a little landing hub so the public can understand where we are in the process," Jacobs said, adding that the site will likely go online within the next week or two.
It will also be used to solicit recommendations and nominations for the job, she said, as well as provide a place for the public to submit comments. Jacobs said she expects finalists visiting campus to be named, with the website then listing information about the candidates and allowing for submission of public comments.
Howard Brill, committee chairman and a faculty member at UA's School of Law since 1975, declined to elaborate on the group's discussion.
"We have decided that at this point in the process, until it becomes public, none of us are going to say anything," Brill said.
Jacobs said the discussion at the meeting noted the importance of keeping information like the names of potential candidates under wraps.
"We agreed that we would generally not speak," Jacobs said, adding she was providing information "to kick this off" but that "moving forward, there won't be a lot more that we can share." She said the date of the next meeting has not been set but is expected to happen in about two months.
The information released Monday says a "Prospect Review Meeting" will involve the committee discussing all candidates and selecting leading candidates.
Interviews of leading candidates were described by UA as part of the "evaluation" phase of the search, with the process also including reference and background checks. The committee next "recommends/selects" candidates for more interviews.
The "selection" phase includes campus interviews and board interviews, according to the search outline, as well as the contract stage of the process.
The 17-person committee includes mostly UA faculty and staff members, including three designated UA faculty representatives: Roger Koeppe, a chemistry professor; Gary Ferrier, an economics professor; and Julie Carrier, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering.
Metro on 06/23/2015