VMI search committee sets timeline, legal ground rules and to vet three executive search firms

The Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors’ superintendent search committee met virtually and agreed to move quickly to select an executive search firm, while reviewing public-records and conflict-of-interest rules that will govern the process.

The committee’s co-chairs, Jamie Inman and Ernie Edgar, told members they aim to have the institute’s next superintendent named by Aug. 1 but called the schedule aspirational and said they will prioritize a thorough, fair process over strict adherence to that date. "Ideally, we would like to have the next superintendent named by the August 1," Inman said.

The process and timeline matter because the committee will collect and use documents and hold deliberations that fall under Virginia’s open-meeting and public-record laws, Pat O'Leary, VMI general counsel and senior assistant attorney general, told the group. "Even though this is a committee meeting, it is, in fact, a board meeting, and it triggers all of the statutory requirements that apply to a board meeting," O'Leary said.

Nut graf: The committee combined two immediate tasks: establish how it will communicate and store materials, and clarify legal constraints on meetings, records and conflicts of interest so the search proceeds without running afoul of Virginia law. Co-chairs said their next step is to interview three firms and return to the committee with a recommendation and…