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Board continues search for next university president

By Rebecca Huff, Senior Staff Writer

The Miami University Board of Trustees has named a Presidential Search Committee and hired an executive search firm to lead the charge in identifying a replacement for President David Hodge.

In an email to all members of the Miami community, David Budig, chair of the board and member of the Search Committee, introduced Isaacson, Miller as the professional search firm working with the university.

"Isaacson, Miller brings more than 30 years of experience assisting in the search for presidents and senior administrative leaders," Budig said in the email. "Miami University has worked with Isaacson, Miller in the past for several key searches, each with exceptional results."

According to the contract between Isaacson, Miller and the university, Miami is paying the firm $150,000 for its services.

"The fee is quite consistent with similar executive search firms," said Ted Pickerill, secretary of the Board of Trustees. "This decision is so vitally important that for universities of Miami's size and reputation, it is the standard practice to engage a professional search firm to assist in this process."

Isaacson, Miller launched their search Monday, Aug. 24, and will begin their open forums Tuesday, Aug. 25 to hear the community's input on qualities they expect from the future president.

"The Trustees are committed to being inclusive in the process of choosing a successor to President Hodge, and to involve the community in determining the qualities and attributes needed for the next president," said Budig.

Budig will appoint the remaining members of the Search Committee, but their names have not been disclosed.

The complete Search Committee will include one additional member of the Board of Trustees, chair of the Miami University Foundation board, three faculty members (one from a regional campus), one undergraduate student, one senior administrative staffer and one alumni representative.

Isaacson, Miller has set up a presidential survey and a nomination form on the presidential search website. The website provides information on the upcoming public forums and the Presidential Search Committee.

"Isaacson, Miller understands Miami University and our values," Pickerell said. "They are very experienced, and we are confident that they will assist Miami in identifying an exceptional leader."

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The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a national organization devoted to improving the academic environment for students and faculty in higher education, has already crafted a list of expectations for the new president, said Karen Dawisha, co-president of the newly formed Miami chapter.

"We want a president who is committed to transparency, who is committed to shared government," Dawisha said. "We want to readdress the imbalance."

Dawisha said one of their top priorities is to increase the money set aside for student scholarships.

"We're having all these beautiful buildings built but increasing students costs," she said. "The more debt students have to incur to go to college, the fewer needy students are able to come to college. We're squeezing out a whole socioeconomic strata."

She said the AAUP wants to do more than discuss the qualities for the next president - they want to see and communicate with the final selection of candidates before the decision is made.

"What we need to do is increase our role in vocalizing what we think our shared values are, so the Board of Trustees takes this into consideration when they're hiring somebody," Dawisha said.

In his email, Budig welcomed input and participation from students, faculty and others in the Miami community as the Presidentia Search Committee and Isaacson, Miller carry out the presidential search.

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