After 16 public listening sessions, the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees approved the Presidential Search Committee’s finalized position criteria at Tuesday’s meeting, as the search for the next university president continues.
From late August through early September, in partnership with search firm Buffkin/Baker, the committee surveyed the FAU community to gain insights into the specific characteristics and qualifications they prefer for a university president.
Ann Yates, a representative from the search firm partner Buffkin/Baker, noted that they took stock of common themes apparent throughout the sessions. They used these to create the final position criteria document, or the Presidential Leadership Profile, which acts as the job description.
Yates recognized that the FAU community values a president’s stern focus on students, the community, financial/executive management and good political judgment.
“The successful candidate must exhibit the highest level of integrity, earn and maintain public trust, and show a commitment to transparency, ethical leadership, shared governance, and free expression,” the profile reads.
Despite some concerns about vague or biased wording in the job description, many of the trustees still expressed contentment with the final product, including Vice Chair Earnie Ellison.
“I’m very pleased to say that this is a very positive document,” said Ellison, who also serves on the search committee. “And I strongly believe that this document should draw attention to some of the best-qualified people for this job.”
Maurice Plough, an FAU alumnus who serves on the dean’s advisory board for the College of Arts and Letters, piped in during public comments to endorse Interim President Stacy Volnick.
“I hope we strongly look to her as a possible strong candidate for the presidency,” he said.
Trustee and former BOT Chair Brad Levine said he believes the leadership profile should establish an absolute requirement for a candidate’s academic experience. Levine resigned as BOT chair in February following a no-confidence vote from the Florida Board of Governors after FAU’s failed search in 2023.
“It tells a great story, and I have to agree with you that it reads really well. But how do we know what the minimum criteria are like? You know, theoretically, you don’t even need a college degree to apply,” Levine said.
The leadership profile, however, does list this as a preferred qualification: “Terminal degree or significant professional achievement, recognition and prestige are required…”
Levine compared FAU’s job description to that of the University of Florida (UF), which is also undergoing its own presidential search after Ben Sasse stepped down in July. UF’s position criteria document includes sections for preferred academic and operational accomplishments, which Levine said FAU should consider for this search.
Other trustees rushed to disagree. The current BOT chair, Piero Bussani, emphasized the amount of effort and precision the search committee and Buffkin/Baker took in making sure everyone’s voices were heard during the listening sessions.
“Every word, every sentence and every paragraph is with intentionality, and I don’t see the purpose of hamstringing the qualities and characteristics of who we’re searching for,” Bussani said.
Trustee Daniel Cane argued that adding minimum-level academic requirements such as a terminal degree might deter potential candidates who are otherwise qualified for the position.
“I’ve seen a lot of presidential searches that don’t have the hard requirements,” Cane said. “Because […] people have all sorts of different backgrounds; corporate America, military, international… What makes a great president are this combination of factors.”
Kimberly Dunn, trustee and president of FAU’s University Faculty Senate, echoed Levine’s suggestion on behalf of faculty.
“From a faculty perspective, no higher education experience and no terminal degree coupled together is of concern, and I want nothing more than our next president to be extraordinarily successful, and I think it’s important that we think about the faculty perspective [as we] move forward in this,” she said.
Elisabeth Gaffney is the Editor-at-Large for the University Press. For more information on this article or others, you can reach Elisabeth at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @elisabethgaff.
