The University of Central Florida's Board of Trustees voted unanimously Sept. 19 to start the search process for a new president, but they can take one guy off their list of candidates: Interim President Thad Seymour said he won't apply for the job.
"I think a search like this is stronger if you don't have an internal candidate," Seymour said. "History has shown is it can reduce the quantity and quality of the applicant pool and I think it's the right thing to do."
The trustees ultimately decided the school would start forming the search committee this Friday and soon will seek bids from search firms.
Multiple trustees during the meeting had floated the idea of delaying the search until 2021 and giving Seymour the full title instead of just an interim role. Seymour countered that he would serve as long as it takes to bring on a candidate, but he believes it's time for the university to find a new president.
UCF Board of Trustees Chairwoman Beverly Seay agreed. "I believe that until we move on from this, no one is going to believe we are done with the problems we are living under for the past year," she said, referring to the school's recent operations funding scandal.
Trustee William Yeargin had consulted with several search firms to get a feel for when the university should start its potential search. Reaching out to those companies comes as the trustees were concerned the funding scandal would scare some applicants away from the job.
The firms he spoke to said the perception of the school would not be affected much by the scandal, but there is the potential for the involvement of the Florida Board of Governors and the Florida Legislature in the presidential search process to scare off some candidates. There is the potential, as well, for there to be a weaker pool of candidates, but they said the university would be able to move past the scandal.
Meanwhile, former UCF Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Garvy during a July 18 meeting said the university may not hire a president from this search process if the pool of candidates is not what the university deems "world class."
In terms of a potential window for the search, Garvey mentioned during the July meeting that much of the search could happen next spring, with a potential decision coming in the February-April window, acceptance of the role in March-May and the president being potentially named in July in time for the new academic year.
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Current C. Fla. enrollment
| Rank | Prior Rank | College or university |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | University of Central Florida |
2 | 2 | Valencia College |
3 | 3 | Seminole State College of Florida |