Huckleberries Online

DN: UI Prez Search Near Derailment

Posted by DFO

March 20, 2009 1:33 p.m. • 13 comments

With Nellis gone, Montana State University Provost David Dooley is the last finalist standing. By default, he presumably gets the job - if he wants it. UI and board officials should pause and move back a few steps and stop painting themselves into the proverbial corner. Invite the other two candidates to campus for a shot at the job. Then make a decision. In fact, in light of recent events, it would be prudent to also include in the mix the man who currently occupies the president’s chair/Murf Raquet, Moscow Pullman Daily News. More here.

Question: Should the state Board of Education pick the remaining finalist to be the new UIdaho president by default? Or the current interim president? Or a combination of those two, along with the two remaining in the top five list? Or begin the search process again?

13 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Digger on March 20 at 1:49 p.m.
I think that Steven Dailey-Larsen would be great as the UI President. The problem is that I don’t think he wants the job.

They should invite the other two candidates to visit and then make a decision - not give the job to the candidate who won by default since it sounds like they wanted the guy from Kansas to begin with.
Aliasjax on March 20 at 1:58 p.m.
Start over…
JamesBond on March 20 at 2:21 p.m.
They should just keep it in the family. Hire Dirk Kempthorne or Roy Eigeuren. They’d be just perfect.
Arpie on March 20 at 2:56 p.m.
The fact that so many great people are not wanting the job is a cause for concern. A giant red flag, that the legislature and the state board is ignoring, is waving over Moscow.
OfCoffee on March 20 at 3:27 p.m.
Bond - we must beat you amongst the head and shoulders…

I think Murf has it right on this one.
JamesBond on March 20 at 3:37 p.m.
Why not get rid of the President’s position and have the school be ruled by a group of Tibetan Monks?
jazzyvandal on March 20 at 9:23 p.m.
I’ve kept a close eye on the search, and frankly, it is depressing. The reason why no one wants it is because of what the SBOE is offering. It isn’t even close to the median university president’s salary. Maybe the best the UI can do is have Steven Daley Laursen step in full time for the time being.

It’s a little concerning to me that four of the top paid state employees are at Boise State (three of those are from BSU athletics). Kind of a slap in the face to the state’s research university…

I’ve said this many times, but higher education is not a priority in the state of Idaho. Butch Otter and the legislature need to start investing in higher education, like Utah has. Idaho is still in the stone age when it comes to education

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.