A nine-member committee will begin the search for a new University of Idaho president.
The State Board of Education announced the committee Friday, marking the first significant public step in the search. Current U of I President C. Scott Green announced his retirement on Sept. 9; he will stay on as president at his alma mater until June 30.
Two State Board members will head the search: Shawn Keough of Sandpoint will chair the committee, and Pete Koehler of Caldwell will serve as vice chair. Koehler is a U of I alum.
Here’s a look at the rest of the committee members:
- Chandra Zenner Ford, the U of I’s senior associate to the president, and executive officer of the university’s Boise and Southwest Idaho center.
- Mya Pronschinske Groza, a U of I marketing professor, and associate dean of the College of Business and Economics.
- Bill Gilbert, a former State Board member and a 1997 U of I graduate.
- Phil Reberger, who served as chief of staff to former Idaho Gov. and Sen. Dirk Kempthorne and former Idaho Sen. Steve Symms. Reberger is a 1964 U of I graduate.
- Clint Marshall, chair of the University of Idaho Foundation.
- Mary Hasenoehrl, owner of GKH Farms and partner in Gross Farms, Wilder.
- Dave Whitehead, president of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Pullman, Wash.
“We are grateful to these Vandals and community leaders for agreeing to serve,” State Board President Kurt Liebich said in a news release. “President Green has put the university in a strong position, and we are committed to a thorough search that finds a leader who can build on that momentum.”
The timetable for the search is not set. However, the U of I has said the State Board hopes to fill the post by spring, before Green’s retirement.
Under a new state law, passed this year, the presidential search process is now almost entirely a closed-door process. After private meetings and interviews, the search committee will submit a sole finalist’s name to the State Board. If board members agree to the recommendation, the board can publicly name the finalist and make the hire within 10 business days.
The law also sets the guidelines for the makeup of a search committee, composed of at least eight members. With nine members, the U of I committee is slightly larger than the minimum required by law.
