The University administration announced the membership of the Presidential Search Committee (PSC), which will search for and decide on candidates for the next university president. The PSC will be “composed of current and former trustees,” according to the email.
The announcement came on Oct. 28, just over a month after the news of President Paul Fitzgerald, S.J.’s resignation.
The PSC does not consist of any faculty, staff, students or alumni. Instead, “students, faculty, librarians, staff, alumni and friends of USF” will be a part of the Search Advisory Committee (SAC).
USF spokesperson Kellie Samson wrote to the Foghorn that the “SAC (with support from USF staff and an external search firm) will facilitate open, inclusive, transparent, and candid discussions on the qualities and attributes the university community seeks in the 29th president of the University of San Francisco.”
“Further, SAC is charged with ensuring that community feedback is collected and shared with the PSC in a timely and comprehensive manner following feedback and listening sessions (in-person and via Zoom), surveys, online feedback forms, and other tools that will be made available to all members of the USF community. The two groups will be in regular communication with each other during the search.” said Samson.
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Eileen Fung and Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees Mary Del Santo will co-chair the SAC. At the time of publication, no further information has been released regarding the constituent makeup of the committee, although the membership is expected to be announced shortly, according to the Oct. 28 email.
The authors of the email and co-chairs of the PSC, Jeff Silk and John F. Nicolai, wrote in the announcement that the PSC “will work closely with the USF community in an open and inclusive search to identify the 29th president of the university.”
The formation of a PSC and SAC has been done before; following the resignation of President Emeritus Stephen A. Privett, S.J. in 2013, the university used both committees in the selection process. A similar process was also used in 2000, when President John P. Schlegel S.J. resigned.
The formation of the committees remains contentious.
Communications Studies professor and President of the USF Faculty Association (USFFA) Brandi Lawless said to the Foghorn, “[The PSC and SAC system is] not an effective strategy, because our understanding was that the Search Advisory Committee in the last search did not have much of a voice in the final decision making process. I hope that’s different this time.”
On the subject, Samson said, “USF’s last presidential search was conducted more than 10 years ago; we are sure there are differing opinions of how that process worked at the time. Evaluation tools and survey techniques have improved considerably in the past decade, just as the skill set and portfolios of university presidents have grown more complex.”
“For this search, the SAC members will take on a serious responsibility and will be thoroughly engaged in the process of interacting with the USF community, gathering information, and advising the PSC. The input of SAC’s membership and, indeed, input from all members of the community on the attributes and skills needed in the next leader of USF will be received with respect and reviewed with careful consideration.”
Lawless said, “Ideally, [the SAC] wouldn’t be a separate entity [from the PSC] […] this is something that the USFFA is disappointed in, and I don’t think it should be a separate committee. But, my hope is that it will be what the name says, an advisory committee [where] our advice is taken seriously.”
The PSC website, which will reportedly host regular updates posted by the committee, is anticipated to launch within the next two weeks.
Samson wrote, “The creation of the two bodies – the PSC and the SAC – was designed to provide balance, intentionality, and community-wide input as USF begins the critical process of identifying and hiring the next president of the university.”
She continued, “All members of the community will have an opportunity to be heard, and the PSC looks forward to working closely with SAC members to provide input through feedback, counsel, and ideas.”
The Foghorn will continue to report on updates and sentiments regarding the search committees and selection process.
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