The University of South Florida will commence its search for a new president in the coming days after President Rhea Law announced the end of her three-year tenure leading the school.
USF would be the eighth public university in the state to change leadership in roughly the last two years, jumping into the fray with three other universities currently searching for a new president.
And while the process of finding a new president may seem rote, presidential searches have become increasingly political in recent years.
The process of finding a new president follows a formulaic pattern. The school will form a search committee consisting of local stakeholders, faculty, students and members of the school’s board of trustees.
The committee will outline the requirements and expectations of the new president, typically with the assistance of a search firm. The criteria can offer a glimpse into the school’s priorities, as when Florida Atlantic University dropped a requirement that candidates hold any college degree during last year’s search.
Under state law, only the names of finalists are made public rather than all applicants. That law came under fire in 2022 when the University of Florida announced former Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse as the school’s sole finalist.
In 2021, USF board chairperson Will Weatherford named Rhea Law interim president after former President Steve Currall resigned.
The university tapped SP&A — the same firm used by the University of Florida in its last two searches — to lead a national search. The process lasted about eight months and yielded 18 applicants. It was before the law that shields applicants from public record came into effect. Law applied, and a week later she and one other candidate were named finalists.
The other finalist briefly considered dropping out over concerns about the fairness of the process, but his concerns were soothed and he remained up for consideration.
Since then, laws now protect the information of applicants until they’re named finalists. Members of search committees also sign nondisclosure forms, and the Board of Governors now has a greater degree of control over the searches with an additional appointee on the search committee.
Of the past nine Florida colleges and universities to pick a new president, seven selected former Republican lawmakers. Another, Florida International University, tapped former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez on an interim basis.
Fairness has become a key concern for stakeholders at Florida’s public universities as politically connected candidates seem overwhelmingly favored for the job ― and willing to exert their influence when they get it.
Nowhere is that more evident than at New College of Florida, where former state Rep. Richard Corcoran has led a push to drastically reform the state’s honors college, adding a sports program, hiring controversial faculty and moving the school in a “classical” direction modeled after Hillsdale College, a private Christian school.
Along with UF and FIU, Florida A&M University is currently conducting its own presidential search.
Picking a politician to lead USF is “not necessarily a bad thing,” Law said in a virtual press conference Monday.
The most important role for a public university president in Florida is as “top advocate and top lobbyist for the university in Tallahassee,” said former state Rep. Adam Hasner, who was recently appointed president at Florida Atlantic University over the protests of some students and faculty.
Last year, USF saw a $104 million bump in state funding, including recurring funds and money for new facilities.
As well as an outspoken lobbyist and advocate, USF also needs a leader “who understands our core mission and understands what academic excellence looks like,” said David Simmons, professor of engineering and president of the USF Faculty Senate.
“That combination of abilities can come from multiple different backgrounds,” he said. “Our best interest is in having an open, merit-based search to find the person with the best combination of strengths.”