April 30, 2015
UW Regents seek public input at open forums as presidential search begins
The University of Washington Board of Regents began the process of selecting its next president, and board Chairman Bill Ayer is inviting students, faculty, staff and the public to a series of open forums about what they are looking for in the next leader of the university. Four open forums will take place, with two on the Seattle campus and one at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma. All of the forums are open to everyone, but each is targeted toward the concerns of a specific group. See more details in the schedule below.
“As we embark on the search, it is very important for the regents to hear from the community on what they believe the university’s needs are and what important qualities and characteristics we should focus on in the candidates,” said Ayer. “We hope people will give this some thought and share their ideas with us at the several forums we will be holding on our three campuses in May.”
The forums will cover a range of topics, including how attendees describe the most important characteristics of the UW; what the greatest opportunities and challenges will be for the next president; which experiences and qualities will be required of the next president to address those opportunities and challenges; and any other thoughts or advice attendees want to share with the search advisory committee and the Board of Regents.
The forums are the next step in a search process that has begun to unfold in the last two weeks. The regents have appointed Kenyon Chan, who has served as chancellor at UW Bothell and interim chancellor at UW Tacoma, as chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. It has also asked for nominations for faculty, students, staff and members of the public to join the committee, and received eight proposals from national search consultants. In addition to the open forums, the next few weeks will include the appointment of a search consultant and finalizing a search advisory committee that will include regents, faculty, students, staff and external supporters of the university.
Below is the schedule and primary group of emphasis for the open forums. For more information, and to stay updated on the search, visit uw.edu/regents/presidential-search.
Monday, May 4; UW Seattle, HUB Lyceum
3 to 4:30 p.m.: Undergraduate student perspectives
5 to 6:30 p.m.: Graduate student perspectives
Tuesday, May 5; UW Bothell, North Creek Events Center
3 to 4:30 p.m.: Student perspectives
5 to 6:30 p.m.: Faculty and staff perspectives
Monday, May 11; UW Tacoma, Jane Russell Commons
3 to 4:30 p.m.: Student perspectives
5 to 6:30 p.m.: Faculty and staff perspectives
Tuesday, May 26; UW Seattle, HUB Lyceum
4 to 6 p.m.: Faculty and staff perspectives
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