Case study


CMU could learn a thing or two from Alcorn State University and the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

The IHL board announced Wednesday that George Ross, vice president for finance and administrative services at CMU, is the preferred candidate to become ASU's next president.

What's impressive is how ASU has handled the search process.

ASU and the IHL board began the first phase in late September, after then-president Clinton Bristow, Jr., died in August, according to the Mississippi IHL board Web site.

Today, about six months later, it is expected that Bristow's successor will be named Tuesday, after Ross visits campus that day for interviews.

It should only take a little more than six months to complete the search, interview and selection process.

Even more impressive is how ASU and the IHL board planned the search, which is composed of 18 phases, all of which can be viewed by anyone on the Web site - www.ihl.state.ms.us/ieo_search/asu/asu_ieo_search.html.

Viewers can read press releases recapping steps 1-15, as well as read information about what constitutes the final three phases. Each step is thoroughly explained, and there even is a link on the IHL Web site that explains how searches are performed.

Obviously, things run a bit different in Mississippi.

First, ASU has an enrollment of just 3,100 students. And second, the IHL board governs all eight public universities in the state.

The difference between 3,000 students and 27,000, CMU's approximate enrollment, is massive.

But when it takes more than two years for CMU to land senior administrators, there has to be room for improvement.

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