ISU President search down to two finalists

By Sue Loughlin
The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE Tue, May 13 2008

— The search for a new Indiana State University president is down to two finalists, with a third “nontraditional” candidate withdrawing from the process.
Of the remaining two — a sitting college president and a provost — one wants more time before making a commitment to come to campus and being publicly named, said Mike Alley, president of the ISU board of trustees.
The second finalist wants until the end of the week to make a decision, Alley said.
“It is our intent not to release any names until we get both of them on board and committed and know they are coming [for a campus visit],” Alley said. “It is clearly our desire to get both of these candidates on campus.”
Both are outstanding candidates, he said. “We feel very good about them. We don’t want to lose either one.”
The presidential search committee recommended three finalists to trustees, who, in turn, interviewed the final three by video conference and wanted to bring all three to campus.
At that point, all three were invited to campus, but they also were asked if they wanted to continue as candidates and if they were willing to be publicly named, Alley said.
One of the three, who did not come from a traditional academic background, chose to withdraw, Alley said.
Now, one of two remaining finalists is concerned about putting their current position at risk if they are publicly named, Alley said.
“We’re having to do some convincing,” Alley said. “[The candidate] has a good situation now.”
Initially, trustees had planned to keep the search process closed until a final candidate was named president, but members of the campus community pressed to have a more open process, with more than one finalist brought to campus before a decision was made.
Trustees had concerns that publicly identifying candidates might cause sitting university presidents and other well-qualified candidates to withdraw from consideration, Alley has said.
The closed process and confidentiality was in keeping with the recommendation of a search consultant. But trustees changed their minds and made the process more open by agreeing to name two to three finalists and bringing them to campus.
“I promised a minimum of two candidates [as finalists] and I’d like to live up to that,” Alley said Wednesday.
If the search process comes down to one finalist, Alley wouldn’t comment on whether that person would become president, or whether trustees might go back to some of the other semifinalists.
“I think it’s premature to speculate on that,” Alley said. “I remain very confident and hopeful that this second candidate will make the commitment and agree to have their name released.”
Trustees hope to name the new president in April.
The new president will succeed Lloyd W. Benjamin III, who announced his intentions last summer to step down as president at the end of his current contract on June 30.
The new president would be expected to assume that role July 1.
A 15-member search committee began meeting in October.
Initially, there were 121 people in a pool of potential candidates, which included those who were nominated. Those names were provided to ISU’s consultant in the search process, R. William Funk and Associates, which contacted them to see if they would be interested in applying.
Of the 121, 41 individuals were interested and submitted their credentials. That list was later narrowed to about 15.
In late February, ISU announced that the search had been narrowed to seven candidates, a group that included sitting presidents, provosts and a nontraditional candidate.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.