By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Northern Kentucky University is moving quickly to identify candidates to replace outgoing President Geoffrey S. Mearns.
Boehne
Mearns accepted the position of President of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana on January 24. The timing of his departure has not been announced, but his contract expires July 31.
NKU issued Request for Proposals (RFPs) on February 3, for a Presidential and Executive Search Consultant to assist in the selection process.
According to the tentative timeline outlined by the University, the NKU Board of Regents will announce a Presidential Search and Screening Committee (PSSC) chair this week.
The Board of Regents has scheduled a special meeting for today at 8:30 a.m. The only item on the agenda is an executive session for which a general purpose has not been identified.
There has been no confirmation from NKU or the Board of Regents that it is to select a PSCC chair, but based on the timeline identified, that seems likely.
NKU Board of Regents Chair Rich Boehne said the RFP was issued quickly after the Mearns announcement because NKU needs to move forward.
“We will hopefully be picking a search firm over the next few weeks and then we will launch an aggressive national search,” Boehne said.
Mearns spent more than four years as the president of NKU. He replaced the popular James Votruba who served in the role from 1997 to 2012 and is currently President Emeritus and Professor of Educational Leadership.
Mearns led an advocacy campaign to garner additional state support for the university, in an effort to address a historic funding disparity. The multiyear educational efforts resulted in an additional $5.1 million in funding for the university.
Boehne, who is president and CEO of the E.W. Scripps Company, said the next president of NKU should possess some of the same characteristics as Mearns.
“Geoff’s done an excellent job in moving us toward equity in Frankfort, so certainly it would have to be someone who is enthusiastic about picking up that ball,” Boehne said.
The funding picture changed dramatically during Mearns’ tenure at NKU and Boehne said that was a real challenge.
“We went from years of continuous growth, to where all of the universities in the state had to make a sudden adjustment over the last few years,” Boehne said.
Mearns
Mearns also secured the largest single capital investment in Northern Kentucky University’s history, a $97 million appropriation from the state for the institution’s health innovation center.
“The health innovations program is up out of the ground and heading toward taking students, and the College of Informatics is growing, so there is a lot that needs to keep moving from here,” Boehne said.
Boehne believes the job of college president is one of the toughest in America because the demands are so great.
“We’ll be looking for someone else who is enthusiastic about our core mission and is the kind of entrepreneur that we have enjoyed at NKU over the past 20-plus years as the place has grown,” Boehne said.
RFP responses are due February 17. If the tentative schedule is followed, members of the Presidential Screening Committee will be announced and search firm finalists will be selected and invited to campus within a week of that date.
Search firm finalists will then be invited to campus, with negotiations and a final firm selection tentatively scheduled by March 10.
“We’ll spend a lot of time over the next six weeks doing forums and listening to a number of groups,” Boehne said. “Every transition is an opportunity in some way, so we’ll take a little bit of a deep breath over the next few weeks, listen to a lot of people (and determine), what are the most important traits and experience.”
From mid-March to mid-April, those forums will take place and a detailed profile of the next president will be developed.
Applications will then be received and reviewed and the Board of Regents is expected to take action on a new president no later than Sept. 1.
Tentative Timeline for the Search*
The timeline below will be refined as the search process unfolds
February 3
- RFP for a search firm issued
Week of February 13
- Board of Regents announces Presidential Search and Screening Committee (PSSC) chair.
Week of February 20
- Members of the Presidential Search and Screening Committee are announced.
February 17
- RFP responses are due
February 21 – 22
- Search firm finalists are selected and invited to campus.
February 27 – March 1
- Selected search firms make in-person presentations.
March 1 – 10
- Negotiate and finalize search firm selection.
March 13 – April 15
- Open forums are held to solicit input about the University’s priorities and qualities needed in the next president
- Detailed presidential profile developed and released
April 15 – Mid-June
- Application materials are received.
June – August
No later than September 1
- Board of Regents take action on new president.
*Source: Northern Kentucky University
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
