Presidential Search

["President's Office" <auemail@groupwise1.duc.auburn.edu>]

Dear Members of the Auburn Community:

I am writing to share the following comments that Mr. Jack Miller
presented to the Board of Trustees today.  Following Mr. Miller's
presentation, the Board voted to accept what he has outlined.  I solicit
your comments and will be pleased to forward them to Mr. Miller

My own remarks to the Board of Trustees today can be found on the web
at http://www.auburn.edu/administration/president/messages/ .

Sincerely,

William F. Walker
Interim President

Dr. Walker, 

Below are thoughts I presented to the Board earlier today regarding
composition and initial procedures that will guide the presidential
search process.  These guidelines are the result of numerous meetings
with our various constituencies including faculty leaders and were
supported by the Board of Trustees in a resolution earlier today. 
Please feel free to forward this information to those who are interested
in this process.  

Jack Miller


The following represent my thoughts as to the conceptual foundation for
the Presidential Search Committee (PSC):

1.  Broadly representative of the major stakeholders at AU and AUM.
2.  Designed to demonstrate that the University community can (and
should) come together.  
3.  Designed around the AGB best practices model.

While some details remain to be worked out, the proposal will include
at least these points:

COMPOSITION

1.  Three members of the Board of Trustees. 
2.  Four members of the faculty, three from AU and one from AUM.
3.  Three representatives of the alumni, two from AU and one from AUM.
4.  Two student representatives from AU (with one vote) and one
student/vote from AUM.
5.  One representative of the administration/deans.
6.  One representative from Administrative and Professional.
7.  One representative from the Staff Council.

PROCEDURES

While many (if not most) of the working procedures will have to be
developed by the PSC itself, the most noteworthy are set out below:

1.  Consultation to begin immediately with University stakeholder
groups.
2.  Faculty representatives will be elected by the Rules Committee of
the University Senate.
3.  Remaining trustees to be named by the Board's President Pro Tem.
4.  The PSC shall select an experienced and nationally recognized
University Presidential search firm.  The role of this firm shall be
advisory. 
5.  The firm will meet with the full faculty membership to discuss how
they will advise the PSC as well as to gather input and comments from
faculty members.  
6.  No President can be selected by the Board unless he or she goes
through the PSC process, and is one of the candidates recommended by the
PSC.  If no candidate is selected, the process will begin again.
7.  The PSC process will begin after the faculty members have been
selected.
8.  All candidates on the short list will be invited (but not required)
to participate in an open forum with faculty members.
9.  At the first meeting of the PSC, a code of ethics will be presented
for individual signatures; the code will be patterned after codes used
widely in University Presidential searches and will include a pledge of
confidentiality throughout the process.  Violations of such pledge will
result in replacement of the offending member of the PSC.
10.  Proxy voting will not be permitted.
11.  All statements (e.g., the Charge and Leadership statement) will be
approved by the PSC.
12.  A website location will be maintained throughout process to keep
all University stakeholders informed about the search process.

We will need to look at:

1.  Laws of Alabama
2.  Proposed timetable.
3.  Staff and budget for this process.
4.  Development of website location.

N.B.

Seven or eight interviews with some of the most prominent search firms
in the country; average 2-3 hours apiece; all weekend at AGB conference
last weekend; five-hour workshop on Presidential searches; several
meetings with Faculty Senate leadership in past six weeks.

We will, all of us associated with the PSC, make mistakes.  I appeal to
all rational men and women to recognize that our common humanity makes
this result inevitable.  The absence of perfection does not indicate the
absence of good will.