University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly formally charged the Chancellor Search and Screen Committee with finding UW-Madison’s next chancellor in the committee’s first official meeting Wednesday.
In the coming months, the 25-member committee will nominate and conduct interviews with national and international candidates to fill the top leadership position at Wisconsin’s flagship university.
In March, the committee will recommend five candidates to a special committee of UW System regents, as well as Reilly, which will then select the final candidate to present to the full board for appointment in April.
According to Reilly, the Board will ideally name the new chancellor this spring and he or she will be in place by July 2013.
The CCS committee discussed important qualities to look for in the university’s next chancellor with Reilly and Regents David Walsh, Charles Pruitt, Katherine Pointer and Regina Millner, who will all sit on the special committee.
Reilly said it is important for the next chancellor to acknowledge the need for a “new model” of higher education, due to the recent decline in state funding support for the university.
“We need someone who can understand that, and then figure out in that environment getting to know the culture of this place and how to take this place forward,” Reilly said.
Regent Walsh said he felt the new chancellor must realize the importance of UW-Madison shared governance, which is the ability of faculty, staff and students to organize and express their collective opinions to administration.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to getting along with the team, understanding the faculty, the staff, the labor issues,” Walsh said.
Looking forward, the committee will also begin holding open forums to receive input from the campus, community and public at large, as well as draft a position description, subject to Regents approval, to advertise the opening.
