A list of criteria for candidates applying to be UF’s next president was finalized and approved during a joint meeting of UF’s Board of Trustees and a presidential search subcommittee on Tuesday.
Over the past two weeks, the Qualifications and Criteria Subcommittee has refined the language of the list to cast the widest net possible for qualified candidates.
The committee interviewed students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and Gainesville residents to get an idea of what all of those groups would like to see in UF’s next president.
David Brown, chairman of the board, said that on the whole, the groups the search committee reached out to have been very concerned with and responsive to the search.
Some emphasized qualifications include having experience leading a land grant university, fiscal and political savviness, a focus on the student experience and fluency in another language “or other meaningful multicultural experience,” according to the list.
Board member Marshall Criser said he hopes the inclusivity of the search criteria will create “an opportunity for the best and brightest to consider the University of Florida for their next employment opportunity.”
Now that it’s finalized, the list of criteria will be circulated nationally and internationally.
In the next few months, Dianna Morgan, chairwoman of the Presidential Search Committee, said she expects the committee to have about 1,000 conversations with candidates and references.
“It’s important to emphasize that what we’ve done so far is only the beginning,” she said.
Contact Erin Jester at ejester@alligator.org.
UF Board of Trustees chairman David Brown discusses criteria for presidential candidates during a board meeting Tuesday.
