UN President search nearing end
Salley Rockey, deputy director for extramural research at the National Institutes of Health, will be the final candidate to interview for president of the University of Nebraska Dec. 17, almost a month after CMU President George Ross visited in November.
Howard Hawkes, chair of the UN Board of Regents, welcomed Ross and his wife, Elizabeth, to a public session Nov. 20. Hank Bounds, commissioner of higher education for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and Michael Martin, chancellor of the Colorado State University System, have already completed their interviews in Nebraska.
It is too early to publicly comment on the board's impressions with Ross, Lee said, although she the board members made it clear that they were very satisfied with the finalists.
At the Dec. 9 CMU Board of Trustees meeting, Ross received a warm response from many of the trustees, who reaffirmed their support and confidence in his leadership.
Ross said the process is still ongoing, but his wife and he enjoyed the visit to UN's four campuses.
"It's a great community in Lincoln and Omaha and Kearney and I met a lot of good people, it reminded me of (CMU) a little bit," Ross said at the meeting.
UN's Board of Regents will meet in a closed session after Rockey's interview to discuss the overall leadership of the university and selection of the president. The board will not announce their selection after this meeting, said Assistant Vice President for University Affairs Melissa Lee.
"We want to make sure to give our students and faculty and people around the state to send their feedback to the regents," Lee said. "At this meeting (the board) will be having a discussion on things they've seen so far and checking references."
Lee said the board has not determined a date when the selection will be announced. The decision-making process may take as long as the end of the academic year.
The university wants to accommodate for the schedules of the candidates, who will need time to move their families to Nebraska.
"It's important to make this decision in as timely as the board is able to, but we don't want to rush ourselves," Lee said. "The board will have to take the time it needs to do the job right."
If selected, Ross would be in charge of a university that operates with an annual budget of $2.4 billion. UN enrolls more than 50,000 students and employs nearly 14,000 faculty and staff.
The president is the chief executive officer of the university, which is governed by a Board of Regents of eight members popularly elected on a nonpartisan basis. The president also appoints, subject to the approval of the Board of Regents, the chancellors of the four campuses, who serve as vice presidents of the university and as CEOs of their own campuses.
