Search process for new UNT System chancellor is under way

Following Chancellor Alfred F. Hurley's announcement of plans to step down, UNT System Board of Regents Chair Bobby Ray notified the UNT community in a Jan. 29 letter that the regents have launched a search for a new UNT System chancellor. According to Ray, the board plans to name a new chancellor by the end of the 2001-02 fiscal year.

"We are seeking to have new leadership in place and acclimated before Texas' next legislative session, which begins in January 2003. However, our search must be driven by our mission to find the best person for the job, not by time," he said.

Hurley has assured the regents that he will be available to facilitate a smooth transition and to serve until the search is successfully concluded, if it takes longer than expected. Ray emphasized that the search process is in its earliest stages. "At the present time, there are no formal candidates for the position," he said, "but as the search process unfolds there are likely to be media reports, even rumors, of interest by various individuals."

The regents will convene both a search committee and an advisory committee to identify candidates and review their credentials. Regents, who will have the final hiring authority, will serve as the search committee. As chair of the board, Ray will lead the search committee.

The advisory committee, which will evaluate the candidates and make recommendations to the board, will include President Norval Pohl, UNT Health Science Center President Ronald Blanck and UNT System Center Executive Director John Price; three community leaders (one representing each element of the system); and two students, two faculty members and two staff members (one representing UNT and one representing the Health Science Center in each category). Regent Gayle Strange will lead the advisory committee.

To avoid confusion, the system and the members of the two committees will invoke certain provisions of Texas law governing institutions of higher education. Texas code permits deliberations about the employment of individual system officers to be held in private. The code also permits the withholding of candidates' names and identifying information until such time as the regents are prepared to announce a finalist or finalists for the chancellorship. At that time, the regents must provide public disclosure of the name or names of finalists being considered for the position at least 21 days prior to a final vote by the regents. This 21-day period will allow for input by internal and external constituents.

In conclusion, Ray said, "Our system's future looks bright, especially with the economic and population growth taking place in the North Texas region. The regents and I are confident that the thoroughness of our succession planning will lead our search to a chancellor who will guide our dynamic system — and its outstanding institutions and our future UNT-Dallas — to new levels of achievement."

BY RODDY WOLPER rwolper@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Hurley announces he will step down at fiscal year's end
• Campaign North Texas tops 75 percent
• UNT enrollment up 7.2 percent for spring
• Club at Gateway Center opens for spring
• UNT professor says Sept. 11 exposed vulnerability of cities as commercial centers
• UNT's Black History Month celebration under way
• UNT program participates in TRIO Day observance
• Two TAMS students named semifinalists in national Intel contest

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