Iowa State University search committee selects four finalists, votes to enter closed session

The Iowa State University presidential search committee voted to enter closed session to evaluate candidates and later announced four finalists to advance to on-campus visits and interviews with the State Board of Regents.

After calling roll and confirming a quorum, an officer of the committee moved that it “enter into closed session in accordance with Iowa code section 21.5” for the purpose of evaluating the professional competency of individuals under consideration. Kara Heiden moved the motion and Azan Settle seconded it. The committee conducted a roll-call vote that the transcript records as approving the motion; the motion was declared approved and the committee entered closed session.

After the closed deliberation, the committee announced that it had selected four candidates — identified in the transcript by candidate numbers 32, 38, 48 and 72 — to advance to the next phase of the search. The committee said each finalist will be invited to campus for a day-long visit, that one finalist will visit per day during the first week of November, and that each finalist will hold a public forum that will be livestreamed. The committee also said each finalist’s name will be publicly released the day before that person’s campus visit and that a feedback form will be made available so members of the campus community can submit comments after each forum.

Speaker 2 told committee members that while the committee’s formal work concludes with forwarding finalists to the State Board of Regents for consideration, committee members may remain involved during on-campus finalist visits if they wish. Speaker 2 said the Board of Regents will meet with each finalist in closed session on Nov. 11 and will select the next president later that day; the committee’s co-chair (recorded as JC Ryswick in the transcript, spelled 'Reiswick' elsewhere) and the speaker said they will present the committee’s forwarded finalists to the Board.

The committee did not release finalist names in the public portion of the meeting; the transcript identifies finalists only by candidate numbers. The public schedule elements reported were: one finalist per day during the first week of November, names released the day before visits, public forums that will be livestreamed, and a feedback form to gather campus input. The committee adjourned after confirming these next steps.

Actions recorded from the meeting: the committee moved and approved entry into closed session under the stated statutory exception for personnel evaluation, and after closed-session deliberation the committee selected four candidates to advance to campus visits and to be forwarded to the State Board of Regents for final consideration.