Public asked to participate in survey on next UH President

from UH News, Dec 17, 2023

The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) is asking all stakeholders of the 10-campus UH system—students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and community members—to complete a short, eight-question survey on the next president of the state’s public higher education system. The survey can be found at UHPresidentsurvey.org and will be open through February 15.

Questions include:

• What does UH need most in a new leader?
• What will be the most critical work to be done by the new President in the next 3 to 5 years?
• What goals, values and/or capabilities should the next UH president have to lead?

“This is the first opportunity for our students, employees, alumni, community members and other constituency groups to participate in this very important process,” said BOR Chair Alapaki Nahale-a. “The feedback we will receive from this survey will be a critical part of the process to select the next leader of UH, whose success is critical to the future of Hawaiʻi.”

The BOR set the hiring process for the next president at a December 7 board meeting to find a successor for UH President David Lassner. Lassner announced in September that he will retire at the end of 2024 or when the next president officially starts.

The BOR is currently in the process of hiring, by January 31, an executive search company with access to Hawaiʻi expertise and/or Hawaiʻi focus to conduct a national search and recruit candidates.

The board is holding a special public meeting on January 4 to finalize details of the advisory group of representatives from stakeholder groups including students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members. The advisory group will provide advice and counsel to the selection committee, which all 11 regents are serving on.

The feedback provided in the survey and public forums will be utilized by the search firm, selection committee and advisory board to ensure stakeholder input is an integral part of the hiring process.

The recruitment process will run through April 15, followed by an evaluation period as the BOR aims to make an official selection in June.

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SA: Board seeks public input in choosing next UH president