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A Presidential Search Falters

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By Gabriela Montell

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford suspended its search for a new president this month after the search committee failed to submit enough names to the system's provost. But that's as much as many on the campus know about what went wrong.

The search, which began last November, will start over in August with the same search committee in place.

Robert Hill, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh system, says the university shelved its search because the search committee could not identify four viable candidates from among the six finalists, as the system's provost had requested. James V. Maher, provost at the university's main campus in Pittsburgh, was to select a new president from among the four.

Unfortunately, "we could only come up with two," says Gautam Mukerjee, an associate professor of economics at Bradford who was on the search committee. "There was no consensus over four candidates."

In an interview, the provost declined to comment about why he had halted the search. His decision, and the secrecy surrounding it, left some members of the Bradford faculty puzzled and dismayed. "We were surprised to hear that the search was called off, because I think most of us were impressed with most of the candidates," says Donald Ulin, an assistant professor of English at Bradford. "We also feel a little bothered that those two candidates weren't even considered," he adds, "but those were the rules, and we knew them from the beginning."

The silence from the central administration is feeding the rumor mill on the Bradford campus, says Andrew Dzirkalis, an associate professor of political science there. "One of the rumors I've heard, and I don't know how much credence to give it, is that our former president was here for such a long time that there was some concern that anyone coming in would have a more difficult time, and that it would be better to have a transitional figure." Richard E. McDowell, Bradford's departing president, has held the job since 1973.

Robert Pack, chairman of the search committee and vice provost for academic planning and resources management at the main campus, did not return telephone calls last week seeking comment. Other members of the search committee contacted by The Chronicle would say only that they were disappointed with the outcome.

"There's certainly frustration because everybody on campus worked really hard on the search and was very excited about getting a new president," says Lauren Yaich, an assistant professor of biology who was on the search committee. "At the same time, there's hope that next year's search will turn up a strong pool of candidates and that we'll get somebody that we can be really excited about."

The six finalists, who were brought to the Pittsburgh and Bradford campuses for three-day interviews this spring, were Thomas F. Armstrong, a professor of history and former provost at Texas Wesleyan University; Pamela Balch, vice president for academic affairs at Bethany College in West Virginia; Leslie E. Brown, vice president and dean of the faculty at Ripon College in Wisconsin; Nicholas Henry, a professor of history and former president at Georgia Southern University; Michael Marsden, provost of Eastern Kentucky University; and Hubert Maultsby, provost of Norwich University.

Frank A. Cassell, president of the university's Greensburg campus, who met each of the finalists, says searches fail for a variety of reasons. "Clearly it's much better to have a president in place than not to have a president in place," he says, "so for the provost to decide that this just hadn't worked out, you know, there must have been very strong reasons."

Perhaps, but the search committee isn't sharing them with the finalists. In interviews, four of the six said the only notification they had received was a vague letter from Mr. Pack stating that the search process had concluded without the selection of a new president and inviting them to reapply. No explanation was given. The other two finalists -- Mr. Henry and Mr. Maultsby -- could not be reached for comment.

While Mr. Marsden says he respects the right of the search committee and those involved in the selection process to decide what's most appropriate for their institution, there's no excuse for the lack of professional courtesy toward the finalists at the close of the search. "It was a class act," says Mr. Marsden, "except at the end. But I just think that when one takes the time to visit the campus and become a public candidate, one deserves more than just a vague letter."

Ms. Balch says that while "the Bradford people were absolutely wonderful," the end of the search was "just really botched." She learned that the search had been suspended only after she called the university to check on its status and was directed to an article from the May 2 issue of the local newspaper, The Bradford Era, that was posted on the university's Web site. Anyone who read the paper knew about it before she did. She didn't receive the university's official notice until May 4, two days after she had called.

Mr. Marsden and Ms. Balch say they won't reapply for the position.

So what's the lesson in all of this? A search committee undermines its own efforts when it doesn't communicate with candidates, says Jean Dowdall, a vice president at A.T. Kearney Executive Search who writes regularly for the Career Network. She says it's customary to call the finalists in a search; anything less is bad manners. "Anyone whom they have met in person should receive a personal call, rather than a letter," she says, "and the unsuccessful candidates should hear it from the institution before they hear it from anybody else, and certainly before they read it in the newspaper."

Mr. Hill, Pitt's spokesman, defends Mr. Pack's decision to notify the finalists by mail. "I've been in this business for 30 years, and there is no 'customary.' It's all over the place. Sometimes candidates don't hear anything. They just read in the paper four months later who the successful candidate is. Other times they might get a call, and still other times they might get a letter."

The failed presidential search has left Bradford not only without a president but also without a permanent vice president for academic affairs. The search for that post was to have begun this fall after a new president was in place, so that he or she would have a voice in the selection process. Now the vice-presidential search will probably be postponed for at least another year. J. Michael Stuckart, who has been the interim vice president since January 2002, will remain in the position in the meantime.

Mr. Maher, the Pittsburgh provost, is expected to appoint an interim president at Bradford to replace Mr. McDowell, who plans to step down in August after 29 years on the job. Mr. McDowell plans to return to Bradford to teach biology part time after a one-year sabbatical.