I just went back and re-read some of what we have been told about the search. If you're keeping score, they've fallen behind in a big way. In the early part of 2013 here is what was sent to us:
Then, this past September, they gave us this update:Dear Tulane Community,
We have finalized the membership of the Presidential Search Committee. The members include:
Rick S. Rees, co-chair of the search committee, Tulane board
Andrew B. Wisdom, co-chair of the search committee, Tulane board
Darryl D. Berger, Tulane board
Carol L. Bernick, Tulane board
Kim M. Boyle, Tulane board
Martin Davies, professor, Tulane Law School
Anthony Duh, associated student body president
Michael A. Friedman, Tulane board
Sylvester Johnson, senior associate vice president for facilities
Jay Lapeyre, Tulane board
Sherry M. Leventhal, Tulane board
Laura S. Levy, vice president for research
R. Hunter Pierson, Tulane board
E. Richard Yulman, Tulane board
As we wrote earlier, we continue to develop the process and timeline for the search. It is our goal to announce a new president by the end of this calendar year. We are also preparing a website with information pertinent to the search process and we will launch the site this summer.
Meanwhile, we will keep you apprised of our progress in all of these areas.
The selection of the University's next President is the most important issue affecting Tulane right now. Frankly, it dwarfs the N.O. Bowl. Each and every one of us needs to write to the committee and make it clear that we need a President that is "pro-Athletics" and willing to commit to building the Tulane brand by investing in facilities, coaches, athlete-friendly academics, and admissions. We can make our voices heard if we do this, and make it clear that another Cowen-like President will result in serious pressure for the board to resign. Here's a link to the Search Committee Feedback and Nomination page, where we can voice our concerns:Presidential Search Update
September 16, 2013
It is with great pleasure that we write today to provide you with an update on our Presidential Search. As you know, a Search Committee was appointed by the Board of Administrators in mid-June following the announcement by President Cowen of his retirement effective July 1, 2014.
The Search Committee was busy earlier this summer interviewing and subsequently hiring a search consultant. We announced in early July that the Committee had selected the firm of Russell Reynolds Associates, one of the world’s leading executive recruiting firms, as its search consultant. We are fortunate that Ilene Nagel, the head of the firm’s higher education practice, is leading the search for Russell Reynolds.
The Search Committee, with significant input from the Board of Administrators, administrators and other constituents, completed the Position Description.
The search is very much on schedule. As a result of our efforts to recruit a national pool of outstanding leaders, we now have a significant number of individuals who have agreed to discuss this exciting opportunity with us in strict confidence. We expect the pool to continue to grow as the search proceeds. The candidate pool currently includes individuals nominated by members of the Tulane community, those recruited by our search consultant and those who have responded to our position advertising. This distinguished group features a diverse set of backgrounds and academic disciplines. It is also populated by men, women and minority candidates, the vast majority of whom are presently in leadership positions in AAU research universities and other distinguished colleges and universities. [u]We encourage you to continue to submit nominations until the process is concluded. You may do so via the presidential search feedback form.[/u]
We are delighted with the input our Committee has received from faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of Tulane.
We anticipate we will begin to interview candidates within the next 60 days, with a goal of selecting our finalists by the end of the year. Rest assured, the Committee will perform significant reference checking on the finalists and will spend considerable time with each candidate before making its recommendation to the Board of Administrators. We believe we will be in a position to announce a new President early in 2014.
We are pleased with the progress we have made and with the quality of the candidate pool, which is a testament to the outstanding reputation of Tulane. That said, we are still in the early stages of this search, and a number of candidates are in multiple searches, so we and our search consultant will continue our efforts to recruit and attract outstanding candidates and work diligently to make Tulane their number one choice.
We will be providing additional updates as appropriate, which will be posted on the Presidential Search website. As ever, please feel free to make your thoughts and comments known to the Search Committee via the feedback function on the Search website.
Rick Rees and Andy Wisdom
Co-chairs, Presidential Search Committee
https://tulane.edu/presidentialsearch/feedback.cfm
We also need to make it clear that Russell Reynolds (the Executive Search firm retained to aid the committee) will receive a whole lot of negative criticism if we get someone that is not committed to a successful athletics department.
