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Regents approve policy requiring a Board member on presidential search committees
Summary
After debate about separation of governance and administration, the Board approved a policy requiring a Regent appointment to search committees for positions that report directly to university presidents. Dissenters said the change risks micromanagement.
The State Board of Regents voted June 16 to require that a Board member be appointed to any search committee for positions that report directly to a university president.
Regent Christine Hensley moved the proposal and Regent Kurt Tjaden seconded. Regent Greta Rouse and Regent Nancy Dunkel both spoke against the change, saying it blurs the line between governance and management. Rouse said the strength of the Board is setting policy and evaluating outcomes, and she will vote no on the proposal because adding Regents to hiring committees risks stepping over that governance boundary.
Board President Robert Cramer described the measure as a middle ground relative to proposed legislation that would have been more intrusive; he said a Regent would be a single voice on a committee that otherwise is faculty-majority and nonvoting, intended to bring perspective without dominating searches.
A roll-call vote recorded five yes votes (Hensley, Tjaden, Cownie, Lacy, Cramer) and three no votes (Dunkel, Rouse, Gipple). The board directed the Governance Committee to advertise an RFQ/RFP and move forward with hiring a national search firm to support the Executive Director and other high-level searches.
