WSU regents narrow field of presidential candidates to 5 but refuse to identify finalists

The governing board for Washington State University announced Wednesday it has identified five top candidates to take over the helm of the 134-year-old institution, but noticeably missing from the announcement were any identifying characteristics of who is being considered to be the university’s 12th president.

The decision not to share the names of the finalists for the role is concerning to some government transparency advocates, who’ve criticized secrecy in the search for university presidents in Washington before.

“The main issue is that public universities who adopt these confidential searches are basically overlooking one of their core constituency groups,” said George Erb, secretary of the Washington Coalition for Open Government. “And that’s the public.”

At a special meeting Wednesday morning, the WSU Board of Regents and 25-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee met virtually to discuss the ongoing search, which was spurred by sitting President Kirk Schulz’s April announcement of his intent to retire next summer.

Schulz, who was appointed to the role in 2016, told The Spokesman-Review he was retiring to make room for “somebody with some new ideas” to bring a fresh voice to WSU leadership. He spent seven years as president of Kansas State University prior to his arrival in Pullman.

With a salary of $980,000 last year, Schulz is one of the top 10 highest-paid officials in the state, according to the state employee salary database.

Most of Wednesday’s meeting was held in executive session, a closed-door meeting allowed for by state law when governing bodies are discussing certain legal or administrative issues, like prospective new hires.

The board reopened the meeting after its two-hour discussion to move the five prospective candidates to the next stage of the process, congratulating each other for their hard work along the way, while sharing few if any details of what that work, discussion or deliberation entailed.

The search for the next president has been relatively secretive, with few opportunities for the public to provide input outside of the early stages.

The board of regents asked the university community for their thoughts on what the next president should look like at the start of the search, and later fleshed out those “leadership profiles” in more than two dozen public listening sessions, according to a WSU news release Wednesday.

The release stated the committee and Isaacson, Miller, the firm hired to assist in the search, reached out to more than 250 candidates about the position. The field was then narrowed, and the committee conducted 90-minute interviews with 10 candidates in mid-November, said Jenette Ramos, search committee chair and board of regents vice chair.

“We had seven standard questions, and we had a robust discussion after those interviews, and we come to this point then in recommending the five finalists,” Ramos said.

None of the candidates will be publicly named, according to the release. WSU Board of Regents Chair Lisa Keohokalole Schauer said at the meeting that the board “is committed to an open and transparent process,” but confirmed the candidates will remain confidential.

“In order to ensure that we are seeking the best candidate for Washington State University, protecting their identities and keeping this process confidential is important to us,” Keohokalole Schauer said. “And therefore, as we go through this process, we’ll let you know where we are in the process.”

The regents will interview the five finalists in January, Keohokalole Schauer said. She indicated discussions and deliberations about those interviews and who the regents prefer will happen at public meetings in January and February.

Tania Henriques, sitting president of the university’s student government, said in a written statement that her organization takes no issue with the regents opting for confidentiality.

“As student leaders, we want the best possible candidate to be chosen for the next President of WSU,” Henriques said. “And if that means keeping the names of the finalists private, we completely understand and respect the hiring process that the Board of Regents are holding.”

The 2025 decision won’t be the first time a new president at a university in the Evergreen state will be selected with a degree of secrecy overshadowing the process.

Schulz was selected in much the same way, as was the sitting president of the University of Washington, Ana Mari Cauce. The Washington Coalition for Open Government filed a lawsuit against the latter’s governing board, saying the Husky regents violated the open public meetings act by reaching a decision before a public meeting in which they voted to hire Cauce.

“The open public meeting, what it looked like on the surface, was actually a puppet meeting,” Erb said. “It was already pre-ordained.”

The coalition’s belief was anchored by a copy of the very script the regents had read from during that meeting, Erb said.

The suit was later settled out of court, with the regents agreeing to pay $25,000 and rewrite their bylaws, while maintaining there was no wrongdoing in their selection of Cauce, as reported by the Seattle Times.

Ahead of the settlement, however, Erb said the coalition learned through depositions of university officials that the other candidates for the position had withdrawn from consideration, leaving Cauce as the sole viable candidate. He argued the lawsuit in its entirety may have been avoided if the UW regents had been transparent about that from the beginning.

The WSU Board of Regents’ latest decision to keep hush about its prospective new hire is part of a growing trend in academia, Erb said.

“Years ago, I’m aware that it was not unusual for universities, especially a public university, to bring finalists to campus,” Erb said. “These days, the public typically only sees one finalist, and that’s the one that’s hired.”

Erb argues the secrecy not only diminishes public trust in the institution’s leadership, but also prevents the regents from making the best, most informed decision they can.

While colleges and universities that have conducted confidential searches may argue that doing so allows for a wider pool of well-qualified applicants, as those applying will not need to worry about their current employer finding out, Erb said doing so also prevents the public from having any real oversight over the process.

The public has a vested interest in what occurs at a public land-grant university, he said.

“The confidential hiring also makes it harder for others to come forward with information about those candidates, even information that may be disqualifying,” Erb said, stressing how the regents may benefit by publicly naming their finalists.

The WSU Board of Regents’ next regular meeting is scheduled for Jan. 23-24 in Seattle, with one public comment session expected on Jan. 24. Those interested in speaking at the meeting can register online starting Jan. 17, and the meeting will be livestreamed on the board’s YouTube page.