UW Trustees Adopt Presidential Search Process

July 19, 2019

The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees has approved a presidential search process that will include public listening sessions; a search committee composed of faculty, staff, students, trustees and other stakeholders; and open forums with finalists.

In voting to adopt a search process outline today (Friday, July 19), the board did not announce a specific timeline, but board Chairman Dave True says the intent is to have a new president on board by July 1, 2020.

The search committee will be led by former Board of Trustees member and president John MacPherson, of Saratoga. Appointments from the faculty, staff, students, trustees and other stakeholders will be made by True, in consultation with board members and others.

"By virtue of our action today, the board has committed to a process that is as open and transparent as possible," True says. "The participation and input of Wyoming citizens will be essential for us to conduct a successful search and select an excellent individual to be our long-term president."

The trustees intend to use a consulting firm to assist in the search, and selection of such a firm is among the first steps to be taken. A search recruiter -- an independent individual to facilitate contact of nontraditional candidates -- also will be appointed.

Listening sessions, two on campus and one elsewhere in Wyoming, will be planned to help define necessary and desired attributes of the next president.

The search committee will be charged with forwarding about 12 qualified candidates to the Board of Trustees and its ex-officio members (not including the acting president), based on a majority vote of the committee as well as a majority vote of trustees on the committee. The board will have the option of adding other candidates to the list advanced by the search committee, but no candidate rejected by the committee will be eligible for addition by the board.

The names of the applicants and semifinalists will be confidential. But, once the board narrows the list of candidates to three to five finalists, they will be publicly identified and brought to campus for public forums. Public input will be accepted by the board following those forums.

The board will conduct individual interviews with the finalists in executive session, then select the top one or two candidates.