Presidential candidates interviewed
Published Sept. 25, 2007
On top of the 35th floor of a St. Louis skyscraper, UM system leaders interviewed candidates for two of the highest system-wide positions.
The Board of Curators interviewed UM system president and general counsel candidates on Friday. The board met in closed session because they were discussing personnel issues.
Although the board interviewed candidates for more than six hours, they made no official decisions regarding either position, UM system spokesman Scott Charton said.
The meeting was scheduled at One US Bank Plaza in downtown St. Louis, and some members of the board attended via teleconference. The meeting was held in the Mitchell Room of the Thompson Coburn LLP, which has its offices in the top levels of the skyscraper.
Thompson Coburn LLP spokesman Marc Witengier said the firm commonly opens its office facilities to community organizations.
"As far as I know, the firm donated the space, and we do this a lot," Witengier said, saying the capacity of the rooms ranged from four to eighty people.
The entire floor was closed to reporters and the public, but the UM system provided a phone number and code so members of the public could dial in to the parts of the meeting that were open.
Charton said the Thompson Coburn offices offered more privacy for candidates than UM system buildings.
"Part of it was confidentiality," Charton said. "The offices are more confidential than meeting on a college campus."
Charton said the offices were also conveniently located closer to the curators' hotel rooms.
Former student representative to the Board of Curators Maria Kerford said she agreed that using the Coburn Offices made sense.
"It's a more controlled environment in regards to security, candidate confidentiality and media interaction," Kerford said.
Kerford transferred her position during the summer to the new student representative, Tony Luetkemeyer.
Former UM system President Elson Floyd left the system in April after accepting an offer to become the president at Washington State University.
The board appointed interim President Gordon Lamb in April to fill the position until a permanent president could be found.
Lamb served as interim chancellor at UM-Kansas City from February 1999 through May 2000.
Luetkemeyer said the board is seeking an unconventional candidate.
"They want somebody with a non-traditional background," Luetkemeyer said. "Like from the business sector, not an academic background."
He said the committee still wants someone familiar with the UM system.
Although Luetkemeyer will have a vote in the final selection of a new president, the student representative normally serves as a non-voting member of the Board of Curators.
The selection will be made by the UM system Board of Curators after they hear recommendations from the board's 19-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee, composed of students, faculty, staff, alumni and others.
"They would interview finalist candidates when the Board of Curators, acting as the Presidential Search Committee, decides to forward any number of candidates to them," Charton said. "They would give their evaluation and report back to the Board of Curators."
Charton said the Presidential Search Advisory Committee meeting has not yet been scheduled.
The Baker and Associates executive search firm along with the Board of Curators have conducted the search in closed sessions to protect the identities of candidates, Baker and Associates President Jerry Baker said in April.
"This search can be broken and fall apart if confidentiality is betrayed," he said.
In January, the UM system Board of Curators began the presidential search process by selecting the Baker Parker executive search firm to facilitate the presidential search and hiring process.
The firm parted ways this year, but Baker and Associates, headed by a partner from Baker Parker, continued the search.
In May, Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., confirmed he had been a candidate for the position, but said he had been eliminated by the Board of Curators. The announcement followed weeks of speculation over his candidacy.
Then, in July, Board of Curators chairman Don Walsworth announced that the board's top candidate, who was Tyco Plastics & Adhesives executive Terry Sutter, had turned down an offer for the position.
In July, the Kansas City Star reported that Sara Martinez Tucker, U.S. Department of Education Under Secretary of Education, said she was approached by the Baker and Associates search firm, but she declined to become a candidate in the search.
— News Editor
Jewels Phraner
contributed to this report.