Weeks after the state’s Board of Governors snubbed University of Florida presidential candidate Santa Ono, the University of South Florida — which is in the midst of its own presidential search — announced it was parting ways with the search firm that brought Ono to UF.
USF has selected Korn Ferry, a global consulting firm, instead of SP&A. The university initially said SP&A would lead its search after the firm completed its work with UF.
It is unclear whether SP&A, the private California-based search firm that ran the last two presidential searches at UF and the most recent searches at USF and Florida State University, will continue to work with UF after Ono was rejected.
A spokesperson for UF said the university has no updates on its search at this time, and declined to confirm if SP&A was still involved with the search.
Alberto Pimentel, the SP&A consultant working on the searches, did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Judith Wilde, a professor at George Mason University who studiespresidential searches, said if Ono had been given a chance to start and failed, the university would likely have been able to go back to SP&A for free because many contracts offer a provision to redo a search if their candidate failed.
Because the Board of Governors deemed the candidate a dud, it’s unclear what happens next.
Wilde said more due diligence on a firm’s part likely could have pointed out concerns over diversity, equity and inclusion that surfaced when Ono was announced as a candidate. But Wilde also said it’s worth considering whether the Board of Governors’ actions and emphasis on diversity will impact the field of who wants to apply.
Wilde said the firm itself may want to reconsider its involvement.
“It may take them a little while to really figure it out,” she said. “It may take the search firm a while to decide whether it is to their benefit to try and go through another search where they have just failed.”
Korn Ferry, she said, has been involved in executive searches for a long time, though not all specifically for higher education.
SP&A was paid just under $293,000 for the search that brought Ben Sasse to UF; $160,000 plus fees for USF’s search that brought in Rhea Law, and $90,000 plus fees for FSU’s search that brought Richard McCullough.
“We value the expertise of our initial search consultant and thank them for their engagement,” USF search committee chair Mike Griffin said in the announcement announcing the change.
He said USF will “provide options for our stakeholder groups to offer input on the search and help us prioritize the qualities we should be seeking in our next president” starting in July.