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Regents announce 12 members of pres. search committee

The yearlong marathon to find the next University president took another move forward yesterday, when the Board of Regents announced the 12 members of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee.

The regents also defined the criteria for choosing the next president.

The regents unanimously voted for the group, which is comprised of seven faculty members, one alum, two staff members and two students.

Law School Dean Jeffrey Lehman will serve as the committee's chair.

"I can't say I wanted to do it, but that does not mean that I am not honored and excited by it," Lehman said in an interview. "To be asked to be one of the small group is a tremendous opportunity."

Dean since 1994, Lehman was recently named one of the 40 rising stars in American law. The regents received his nomination with great enthusiasm.

Provost J. Bernard Machen said he personally asked Lehman to serve as the chair, and that the position has been finalized "for some time."

Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor), who graduated from the University Law School a year behind Lehman, said he is well-suited to lead the committee.

"He is terrific," Newman said. "He is energetic. He is excited. I think he will do a great job."

LSA junior Jennifer Norris, who has participated in several charity, research and Greek organizations, said she thinks she can effectively represent the University's 25,000 undergraduates.

"I think I have a really good grasp of what is going on (at this) campus," Norris said. "I think I can give some input and represent the students well." Pharmacy graduate student Doneka Scott fills the other student slot.

Norris said she wants to get student input before settling on any specific criteria for the next president. She did, however, say the next president should support diversity and be committed to undergraduate education along with high-profile research plans.

When Lehman addressed the regents during the public faculty forum in December, he said the next president must get along with the University's many groups, including students, faculty and alums.

"I think it is really important that our next president be someone who is happy and eager and comfortable with a broad range of constituencies," Lehman said.

The regents approved the committee's membership based on the recommendations of Machen, who has been collecting nominations and interviewing nominees. He said more than 300 people were nominated for the 12 positions.

"We carefully reviewed again the campus and complexity of the University," Machen said. "Every single one of these nominees is my decision."

Machen said he interviewed about 20-30 people, including five students.

The recently appointed advisory committee will meet privately with search consultant Malcolm MacKay during the next few months, researching and interviewing the presidential candidates. It will then publicly release all candidate names, along with at least five recommendations, to the regents in September or October.

"Every name given to this board is under consideration," Newman said.

Machen said a few people he contacted turned down a committee position because of time constraints.

Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor) said he wished there could be more alumni representation.

"I know the alumni are concerned about this," Baker said. "I think there should be at least one other person."

Baker, who was a regent during the hiring process of President James Duderstadt in 1987 and former President Harold Shapiro in 1980, said alums played a valuable role in those searches.

"They brought insights that were extremely helpful," Baker said. "(This) is a distinguished list ... I see no one on this list who has been involved in a presidential search."

Other regents disagreed about the need to have more alums, especially since the board unanimously approved the structure of the advisory committee last month.

Members of the board also pointed out that alums are represented on the committee -- some of the faculty, including Lehman, are alums. Six of the regents, not including Baker, also graduated from the University.

Before voting on the committee's members, the board defined the role of the committee. Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek), co-chair of the search, stressed that individual regents can provide input in the beginning stages of the search and after the advisory committee discloses all the candidates.

"There is nothing to preclude any of us to ask the committee at any time in the process to add an individual name to the list," McFee said. "It is not only possible, it is our responsibility."

Regent Laurence Deitch (D-Bloomfield Hils) added that the regents have the final word on who should serve as the next president.

"Any name at all can be considered, and will be considered, by the board," Deitch said.

The board also emphasized a need for the advisory committee to maintain candidate confidentiality.

"If some member of this committee violates the rules of confidentiality, they will blow the whole search," McFee said.

Machen said it may be appropriate for the regents to discuss the concern on Friday, when they meet publicly with the advisory committee.

At that meeting, the regents are scheduled to present their charge to the committee, along with a finalized presidential job description.

When the regents debated the criteria for the job of University president in yesterday's meeting, Baker introduced a motion that the new president should "encourage dialogue" about political correctness.

"When discussion of important and contentious matters is precluded on a university campus because such discussion is not politically correct, communication stops," Baker said.

"Like the Devil, political correctness has a thousand masks and a thousand homes, including the University of Michigan."

None of the regents seconded Baker's motion.

"While I might or might not disagree with (Baker's) position on political correctness ... I don't believe a statement of this kind belongs in this sort of document," McFee said.

Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor) agreed. "This sort of dialogue belongs in the interview," he said. "Deciding what that person should do before he gets here seems a little early."

Newman said Baker's remarks on political correctness will not carry much weight in the search.

"How do you legislate political correctness?" she said. "I don't think it is a topic that will come up in the interviews. I'll be surprised if it is."