The selection of a University president is one of the Board of Regents’ most important tasks. Regents are committed to hearing input from campus constituencies including faculty, staff, students, UW Medicine employees and alumni.
The Board of Regents engaged SP&A Executive Search to assist in the presidential search process at its March 14, 2024, meeting. The Board of Regents chose members of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee at its June 13, 2024, meeting.
The Presidential Search Advisory Committee will offer opportunities for public input, including online nominations, on-campus and remote listening sessions, and focus-group interviews. Listening sessions will be held in late summer and early autumn quarter 2024. More details will be posted, as available. The leadership profile will be finalized after the listening sessions, in order to incorporate constituent feedback and perspectives. Nominations will be accepted through the survey or by email to uwsearch@uw.edu.
Short updates from the Presidential Search Advisory Committee and the Board of Regents will be posted to this website.
Presidential Search Timeline
Spring quarter 2024: Prepare
- Board of Regents chooses presidential search advisory firm, SP&A Executive Search.
- Board of Regents chooses members of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee (PSAC).
July to October 2024: Define Leadership Profile
- SP&A interviews UW leaders and stakeholders.
- SP&A interviews representative groups (Faculty Senate, ASUW Bothell, ASUW Seattle, ASUW Tacoma, GPSS Presidents).
- PSAC hosts all-UW listening sessions.
- PSAC reviews responses to all-UW survey.
- Result: The Board of Regents and the PSAC define and finalize the presidential leadership profile.
August to December 2024: Build Candidate Pool
- PSAC participates in anti-bias training.
- SP&A reaches out to prospects.
- PSAC elicits nominations of prospects.
- Position is advertised using the leadership profile.
- PSAC constructs rubric on the basis of the leadership profile.
- Result: PSAC identifies pool of interested prospects.
October 2024 to February 2025: Identify Finalists
- PSAC conducts preliminary interviews.
- PSAC conducts second-round interviews.
- Result: PSAC submits list of finalists to Board of Regents.
January to May 2025: Select University President
- Board of Regents interviews finalists (in executive session).
- Board of Regents votes on finalists (in open session).
- Board of Regents announces new University President.
Summer 2025: New President Takes Office
Presidential Search Frequently Asked Questions
How did the Board of Regents determine the structure of and the approach to the presidential search?
The landscape of higher education has rapidly changed over the past three to four years with respect to presidential search. Turnover among university presidents has accelerated. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and in response to political polarization and aggressive negative campaigns that have targeted individuals and careers, numerous candidates have stepped out of the path to the presidency. Employment by foundations or professional bodies is attractive. As a result of burnout and the diminishing attractiveness of the university presidency, turnover in top academic jobs has been high: 100 of 146 presidents of R1 institutions have been placed in the past four years. 110 of 146 provosts of R1 institutions have been placed in the past four years.
Ultimately, the Regents determined a structure for the search that would attract the deepest and most diverse pool of candidates for consideration in the current context and landscape. This included the need to move nimbly, to uphold expectations of candidate confidentiality, to honor existing shared governance structures, and to ensure engagement with the broader campus community on the desired leadership qualities and qualifications of the next president.
Will the search be open or closed?
Closed searches are those run confidentially from beginning to end. Open searches disclose finalists in the last stages and may invite them to on-campus forums to receive community feedback before the successful candidate is selected. Members of the UW community are familiar with open searches such as faculty searches, dean searches, and provost searches. Some states’ public meetings laws require open searches for university presidents, others do not. Washington State requires that the final vote to select a new president be in an open session of the Board of Regents but does not require open interviews.
Since the passage of Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act of 1971, and before, the University of Washington has not conducted an open presidential search. All searches for the leaders of the UW have been closed for more than forty years, even as searches for faculty members, deans, and provosts are often open in their final phases. Other peer institutions and systems, such as the University of California system, have adopted a similar approach. This search will employ the same approach. This includes choosing the next President in an open public meeting pursuant to RCW 42.30.110. The Board of Regents will also provide regular updates on the search through its Presidential search website.
Why is the Presidential Search Advisory Committee (PSAC) smaller than in 2015? Why are there not more faculty representatives? student representatives?
The Board of Regents is responsible for the selection of the President. Regents have been assisted in past presidential searches by advisory committees of varying sizes, depending on the context and needs of the campus at the time of the search. In 1978-9, a committee of ten included three Regents, the Chair of the Faculty Senate, the ASUW and GPSS Presidents, UWAA President, and two senior administrators. In 1994-5, a committee of 18 assisted the Board. In 2002-4, a committee of 15 assisted the Board. In 2010-11, a committee of 17 assisted the Board. In 2015-16, a committee of 27 assisted the Board. This Presidential Search Advisory Committee has 16 members.
In the present cultural and political environment, the ability to be nimble and to ensure confidentiality are key to securing the strongest candidates. It is also important to candidates to have exposure to Regents to assess the culture of the UW’s governing board. PSAC members were chosen for their direct connection to the portfolio of the President, their representative roles in university governance and administration, and their capacity to take broad, University-wide perspectives. While they come from different, “representative” areas of the university, such as the Bothell or Tacoma campuses, all PSAC members have been directed to consider their work broadly and inclusively.
The PSAC includes the Chair of the Faculty Senate, the official representative body for all UW faculty in every category on all campuses and locations, as well as a student member chosen by the Board from a list prepared by the four official representatives of all UW students (ASUW Bothell President, ASUW Seattle President, ASUW Tacoma President, and GPSS President).
How will the UW community ensure that its voices are heard?
The Board distributed a survey instrument to all community members on August 19, including the opportunity to nominate candidates. The Board of Regents welcomes the input and nominations of the UW community. In addition to targeted outreach to key University leaders and constituencies, the PSAC and the Board of Regents will host a series of remote and in-person public forums on all three campuses early in Autumn Quarter at which members of the UW community may offer their input in a manner akin to public comment at a Board meeting.
Feedback from the survey and public forums will directly inform the leadership profile that will guide the search and shape the rubrics by which candidates will be evaluated. Although many PSAC members have already received training in best equitable search practices, they will receive additional training prior to finalizing the leadership profile, developing rubrics, and reviewing candidate materials. The Board intends a fair search that is attentive to the expressed priorities of the University community.
When does the Board of Regents expect to select the next President?
The timeline is fluid. There are several competing searches this year at R1 and AAU peers. Regents hope that the PSAC will be able to finalize the leadership profile swiftly in the weeks following public forums. SP&A will then advertise the position and recruit qualified and appropriate candidates to a pool for the PSAC to evaluate and interview in the late fall and winter. After two rounds of interviews, the PSAC will forward an unranked list of candidates to the Board of Regents for its consideration, no later than Spring Quarter 2025. At that point, the Board of Regents will conduct final due diligence and interview finalists before choosing the next President of the UW, ideally before June 30, 2025, when President Cauce’s second term ends and she plans to return to the faculty.