The Florida State University Presidential Search Advisory Committee is taking steps to refine its search process. The committee held its first meeting Friday with new search firm Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates.
The committee approved a new search timeline including a September 2nd application deadline. It also hopes to revise the presidential position description and make a final recommendation to the Board of Trustees by September 22nd. Until then, new search firm managing partner Alberto Pimentel is encouraging faculty and other members of the committee to “recruit aggressively.”
But some members of the FSU community who spoke during a period of unlimited public comment, including faculty member Michael Bakan, believe the process will be too rushed.
“Anybody who would rush to apply for our position and take our position simply because it was the first one advertised is probably really not who we need to run this university,” says Bakan.
But Pimentel says the committee will focus on finding the best candidate for the university.
“If the candidates do not excite, then we have to slow down a little bit to make sure that we get the right candidates in,” he says. “The quality’s going to dictate the speed.”
Members of the Florida Board of Governors expressed concern over FSU’s presidential search at a meeting in Orlando this week and recommended standardizing the search process for all twelve of Florida’s public universities.
The FSU Search Committee will hold open forums on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week to get feedback from students, faculty, and staff.
Updates on the search committee’s progress can be found here.
