Zinser Advised To End Search For Law Dean

University of Idaho President Elisabeth Zinser says a state Board of Education member advised her to cancel the search for a new law school dean and leave the decision to her successor.

“You were angry enough as to say you would fight us publicly if something did not happen,” Zinser wrote in an April 13 memo to Roy Mosman of Moscow and distributed to all board members.

She said Mosman, a lawyer, also indicated he was disappointed that a close colleague did not make the short list for dean.

But Zinser said she rejected Mosman’s advice to put the search aside while she is a candidate for jobs elsewhere, including president at West Virginia University and chancellor at the University of Kentucky.

“Certainly I cannot cancel the search to leave it to my successor because I remain the president of the UI,” she wrote in a memo obtained by the Lewiston Tribune.

“I am a candidate for chancellor/ president positions at other institutions, but decisions are not made. While I am exploring leadership opportunities at other universities, I remain committed to doing my job for UI…”

She said canceling the search would make her school even more vulnerable to political pressures, such as Micron Technology Inc.’s unsuccessful bid to win approval for an independent engineering school at Boise State.

However, Mosman said Wednesday that he never suggested Zinser cancel the search for a dean. He said he advised Zinser she should start another search if charges raised by an unsuccessful applicant for the position are true.

Boise lawyer Neal Newhouse alleged the search was fatally flawed.