BOR Presidential Search Committee to look locally

In a statement released Friday, University of Hawaii Board of Regents Presidential Search Committee Chair Carl Carlson (pictured) said that the committee has decided to narrow their search to a local candidate and are, therefore, unsure whether spending money on acquiring search help from a national firm is still necessary.

Below is the statement:

Having carefully listened to and considered stakeholders’ and the public’s input, the committee has focused on significantly narrowing the search to a local candidate or candidates and, as a result, has been weighing the necessity of spending public funds on a search firm.

The committee is spending its time carefully evaluating and exploring alternative paths in moving forward in the best interests of the university. It is better for the committee to go through this process, albeit lengthy, than rushing into spending tens of thousands of dollars on a search firm.

The committee is composed of volunteers who’ve devoted tremendous time and effort, at no cost to the state, to ensuring this process is conducted properly and responsibly.

We do have applicants. We also have a good description of an individual, contained in the selection criteria which was endorsed by the committee at its last meeting.

We will make a decision at the meeting on January 30th. It is on the agenda. That decision will likely determine the timeline.

Here is the criteria adopted by the Search Committee for the next president.