A day before the Ohio University Board of Trustees is set to select the university’s next president, a public records request yielded the identities of five potential candidates not previously named in connection with the presidential search process.
Of the five semi-finalists named, four were men, and three were white. All four finalists for the position are white, and Pam Benoit was the sole woman.
Three of the individuals have served as presidents of mid-sized universities, with one having previously served in an executive leadership role at OU within the past decade. The remaining two have served as top-ranking officials at universities, including one who serves as a chief financial officer of a university system, and another who is a chief operating officer at a mid-sized university on the east coast.
Although the original records request required the names, resumes and “all relevant materials” pertaining to candidates recruited by Witt/Kieffer, the executive search firm collaborating with the presidential search committee, none of the four finalist candidates were included in the materials received.
The university is paying Witt/Kieffer approximately $150,000 for the firm's services. According to the firm’s contract with OU, the final installment of $20,000 is set to be paid “no earlier than the date on which a successful candidate accepts (the) university’s offer to be its president.”
In the absence of former OU President Roderick McDavis, who left office Feb. 17 to begin his new position at AGB Search, Interim President David Descutner assumed the office and will continue to carry out the duties of the president until June 30.
McDavis announced last March that he would step down from the presidency, marking the beginning of a nearly year-long presidential search process. During its first phase, the Board of Trustees announced both a search committee, composed of student, faculty and community members, as well as Witt/Kieffer’s role as the search firm in charge of recruiting candidates for the position.
The university itself also accepted applications for the presidency, although none of the applicants were named as finalists for the position. The board announced Pam Benoit, Dean Bresciani, Robert Frank and Duane Nellis as finalists in early January. Three candidates withdrew from the process within a three-day period in February, leaving Nellis as the sole candidate.
On Wednesday, the Board of Trustees will gather at OU’s Dublin campus, nearly 100 miles away from Athens , to select the university’s next president.
