Eight semifinalists will undertake virtual interviews with the Iowa State University presidential search committee next week. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Members of a panel tasked with selecting the crop of candidates to become Iowa State University’s next president are set to decide on finalists next week, having narrowed the field to eight semifinalists.
The ISU Presidential Search Committee will spend two days next week interviewing semifinalists for the university’s presidency before announcing finalists and inviting them to campus for further interviews and open forums.
Each of the candidates, identified by numbers to keep their identities confidential until finalists are announced, were selected by the committee from a pool of 78 people, according to an announcement from ISU. The committee spent nearly four hours in closed session in early October to go through the applications.
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With ISU President Wendy Wintersteen set to retire in January, the presidential search committee this summer set a timeline to find her successor that was described as “very, very, very tight” by AGB Search Managing Principal Rodrick McDavis during the committee’s first meeting.
Semifinalist interviews will be conducted virtually on Oct. 21-22, according to an agenda for the meetings, and the number of selected finalists will be announced following their conclusion.
Committee chair and ISU Faculty Senate President Meghan Gillette said during the board’s Oct. 6 meeting finalists’ names will be released the day before they come to campus. On-campus interviews will take place in the first week of November.
Once they make it to Ames, Gillette said finalists will meet with “selected members of the campus community” and host a forum that will be open to the public and livestreamed for those who can’t come in person.
“On Nov. 11, the board of regents will review each finalist in closed session, and late that day make their selection for the next president of Iowa State University,” Gillette said.
Qualities the committee has decided they’re looking for in a potential ISU president include the ability to connect to and converse with people from all areas of campus and community, experiences and understanding of higher education and challenges the sector currently faces, and knowledge of budgeting, fundraising and other financial aspects of university leadership.
The best candidates must also be able to look ahead and craft a vision for the future of ISU that will help it navigate change and thrive, the committee decided.
