“Open and fair” search underway for WVU’s next president
October 22, 2008 ·
The search committee charged with finding the next West Virginia University president met for the first time Tuesday in Morgantown. Committee chairman and former WVU president, Gene Budig, stressed that this search process will be open and fair.
The search committee charged with finding the next West Virginia University president met for the first time Tuesday in Morgantown. Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, committee chairman and former WVU president, Gene Budig, stressed that this search process will be open and fair.
“There is significant national interest in the presidency of West Virginia University,” said search committee chairman and former WVU president, Gene Budig. “The reputation of the institution is in very good shape. It has been a magnet to a number of individuals who have expressed an interest, and I can assure you that there will be no shortage, none, of qualified candidates.”
WVU’s former president, Mike Garrison, resigned this summer after less than a year on the job. Garrison received intense scrutiny over his office’s involvement in the awarding of an unearned MBA to Governor Joe Manchin’s daughter last fall.
Peter Magrath is WVU’s interim president. Magrath served as president at three public universities and was president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. He does not want to be WVU’s next president, but Budig says the university is in good hands during this transition.
“This university has been in the news in the past year, and it was known that Peter Magrath, who was a national leader, came here. That did a lot to answer questions about the future of WVU. If Peter Magrath is there, it’s a good place, and it’s a place that has a very, very good future. We owe him a lot,” said Budig.
Budig says a job description will be posted in national education publications next month. The committee is slated to submit the names of three candidates to the WVU Board of Governors by April 1. The finalists will visit campus next spring, and the board will select the president soon after.
The search committee plans to meet monthly between now and next April. The committee is comprised of WVU students, staff, faculty, and alumni, among others.