Search for a new UH president narrows down group of hopefuls

The search for the next University of Hawaii president could wrap up before the summer, as regents have turned their attention to a shortlist of candidates.

UH Regent Carl Carlson, chairman of the Board of Regents’ presidential selection committee, which first began meeting in June, said he’s confident the university can fill the president’s post by June 30.

"Our ultimate target remains unchanged, that while there is no deadline, we would like to have a president in place by June 30," he said at the board’s monthly meeting Thursday at Kapiolani Community College. "We believe that is possible."

Carlson’s committee voted in late January to conduct the presidential search itself, without the help of an outside consultant or executive search firm. UH the following month began advertising for the position in local and national publications.

Carlson said Thursday the committee has screened, vetted and produced a shortlist of applicants and nominees.

The group has said it would come up with "no less than five and no more than six" names of top candidates to recommend for consideration.

"We have now interviewed these candidates and are ready to consult with the board and discuss the results so far and consider our options," Carlson said.

The selection committee has met twice this month to review nominations and applications behind closed doors. It is scheduled to meet again Monday in executive session.

The university declined to say how many applications and nominations have been received to date, citing privacy exceptions to the state’s open-records law.

The full Board of Regents is expected to select three finalists from the search committee’s shortlist, and UHhas said their names will be made public.

UH’s longtime chief information officer, David Lassner, has been serving as interim president since September, when former President M.R.C. Greenwood stepped down.

Greenwood announced in May that she would retire Aug. 31 to spend more time with family and deal with health problems, leaving nearly two years left on her contract.

Greenwood’s announced departure came about a year after UH became embroiled in the so-called "Wonder blunder," a botched Stevie Wonder concert that tarnished public confidence in the university.

In January, following six months of public outreach, the presidential selection committee revised a so-called president’s agenda essentially a set of minimum and desired qualifications for candidates to include many of the suggestions from the public.

The list of criteria includes:

» Experience with or in UH, or connections to UH.

» A strong sense of ethics and integrity.

» Political savvy and the ability to work with the Legislature, elected officials, unions and community leaders.

» Knowledge of and respect for the indigenous culture and people, Hawaiian traditions, values and language.

» A passion to serve Hawaii in higher education that surmounts the money and the prestige.