NEWS
It started with 43 candidates from the United States, Sweden, Canada and Australia. Two days later, it was down to three provosts from Orlando, Ohio and Kansas. On Wednesday, March 3, one of them will have to make plans to move to Boca Raton.
Terry Hickey, Mary Jane Saunders or Gary Miller will replace former president Frank T. Brogan and be named FAU’s next leader.
Hickey is the provost and executive vice president at University of Central Florida in Orlando. Saunders is the provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Cleveland State University in Ohio. Gary Miller is the provost and vice president of academic affairs and research at Wichita State University in Kansas.
Brogan, who came to FAU in 2003 after serving as the lieutenant governor under Jeb Bush, resigned in September to become the chancellor of the State University System. Brogan moved back to Tallahassee and now oversees Florida’s 11 public universities.
“This university’s no longer a question mark as to what it’s going to be when it grows up,” he told the UP in September. “It’s going to be a full-fledged comprehensive research university with all of the activities and amenities that any great university should have, and that just can’t be denied at this point.”
A “full-fledged comprehensive research university” is exactly what FAU wants from its next president.
According to the Board of Trustees (BOT) — the 11-member board charged with making the top decisions for the university, including choosing its next leader — the president should “have a passion for educating students and a compelling vision for the role of a major public research university in the 21st century.”
FAU’s next leader should also “bring vision and clarity to the role of [FAU’s] multi-campus university,” and “build on the current exceptional momentum in the university’s development as an internationally recognized research university.”
Although the BOT has the final vote, a search committee composed of FAU’s top constituents choose the three finalists.
The 11-member committee, chaired by BOT chair Nancy Blosser, has representatives from FAU’s College of Nursing, Division of Research, faculty senate, alumni association and FAU Foundation. The vice president for Scientific Operations at Scripps Research Institute and the mayor for the city of Boca Raton are also members. (See the full list and their bios on next page.)
Five of the 11 are also BOT members. The only student member, Student Body President Tiffany Weimar, said she’s excited to be a part of the process and is taking the job “very seriously.”
“We really want a student [oriented] president with a proven track record,” Weimar said, “a president that understands the impact of student life and how it fits with the growth of the university in five to 10 years.”
After interviewing the five semi-finalists on Feb. 25, committee member and Boca Raton Mayor Susan Whelchel voted for Hickey, Miller and Saunders. She said she would be “pleased if any of these three qualified candidates” became FAU’s next leader.
“At the moment, this university is just walking along. If the goal of the university is to pick up the pace and trot, a number of candidates would fit that description,” she told the group. “If you are ready to take a big leap and go for it, then I think there’s really only one or two candidates who fit that description.”
Choosing the president
The process started on Sept. 13, Frank T. Brogan’s last day.
FAU’s Provost John Pritchett was appointed interim president on Sept. 24, and, a month later, the BOT appointed the presidential search committee and hired search firm R. William Funk & Associates to post the position and help recruit the candidates.
Four months later, the university had received 43 candidates.
“We expected about 30, but 43 candidates is really exciting,” search committee chair Nancy Blosser said after the applicants were announced. “I think it says a whole lot for the institution and the opportunities at FAU.”
On Feb. 23, the search committee met and, within an hour, selected five semi-finalists from the 43 applicants. Two days later, the five candidates — from Orlando, Ohio, Kansas, Virginia and Illinois — came to the Boca campus for 90-minute interviews.
That night, after more than eight hours of interviews, the committee voted aloud and candidates Terry Hickey, Mary Jane Saunders and Gary Miller were chosen. The finalists will visit four of FAU’s campuses on Monday, March 1, and Tuesday, March 2.
On Wednesday, March 3 — nine days after the committee made the first cuts — the BOT will interview Hickey, Saunders and Miller and choose one to be FAU’s sixth president.
Blosser, who also serves as the chair of the BOT, acknowledges the process seems fast but says it is “just right” for hiring in the state of Florida.
“Because of Florida’s Sunshine and public records laws, applicants can’t keep their candidacy private and want the process to move fast,” Blosser told the UP. “Traditional searches in higher education should not go for more than six months, and ours is really ideal because it started in the fall and ended in the spring.”
Modeled after recent searches at Florida State University (FSU) and Florida International University (FIU), FAU’s process is actually a month longer.
FSU had 25 candidates and FIU had 32, and both schools took just four months to hire a new president.
“We have a good variety of candidates with different strengths,” Blosser told the UP before the finalists were selected. “I’m really excited to meet the candidates and see what happens.”
One of these provosts will be FAU’s next president …
*Terry Hickey
Age: 65
Current position: Provost and executive vice president at University of Central Florida in Orlando
Students at UCF: 53,500
Degree(s): Ph.D. in physiological psychology from University of Miami and postdoctoral training in neuroanatomy from University of Wisconsin
Why FAU: “I would feel really comfortable here and feel I could really make a difference,” Hickey told the UP. “I’d like to create a different atmosphere on campus to attract students.”
When asked about his recent announcement to step down as UCF’s provost, Hickey said he’s “paid his dues” and is ready to move into a more challenging position.
“I’m tired of being a provost, I’m not tired,” he said during his interview. “If I had to do this job two or three more years, I would find the tallest building on campus …”
What he does like about the job: The students. Hickey says he often spends his lunch breaks at UCF walking around campus talking with students. “The president needs to set the tone and establish a culture for the university.”
*Mary Jane Saunders
Age: 59
Current position: Provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Cleveland State University in Ohio
Students at CSU: 16,000
Degree(s): Ph.D. in botany from the University of Massachusetts and postdoctoral science program at the University of Georgia
Why FAU: “I think this is a wonderful university that will have tremendous success in the next few years,” Saunders told the UP.
A former professor and administrator at the University of South Florida, Saunders said that, after nearly 10 years, she’s “ready to come back to Florida.”
“I’ve been recruited and asked to apply for several presidencies. The only one I’ve explored is this one,” Saunders said during her interview. “I think the university is poised through partnerships out there to take a giant step forward.”
Saunders wants to take that leap at FAU.
“The joy of being a president is helping students, and I’d love to do that at FAU,” she told the UP.
*Gary Miller
Age: 56
Current position: Provost and vice president of academic affairs and research at Wichita State University in Kansas
Students at WSU: 14,500
Degree(s): Ph.D. in biological sciences from Mississippi State University
Why FAU: “What really excited me about this position was the chance to make a difference,” Miller told the search committee during his interview.
As well as provost, Miller is also a biology professor at Wichita State.
When asked about his five-year vision for FAU, Miller told the committee the university can be “an unquestionable place for technology research.”
Under his direction, Miller says the university would be “fully integrated in this community.”
Why he picked FAU, “The opportunities at FAU are just fabulous.”
Who didn’t make the cut
For FAU’s 11-member presidential search committee, knocking the list of candidates from 43 to five was done quickly. Selecting the top three finalists, not as easy.
After spending more than eight hours in interviews and an hour of deliberations on Thursday, Feb. 25, the committee voted aloud, and candidates Terry Hickey, Mary Jane Saunders and Gary Miller we chosen.
Hickey and Saunders each received eight votes, Miller received six, and Paul Ferguson and Kathie Olsen each got four. The committee considered a revote since the tallies were so close, but ultimately decided to stick with the vote totals.
