The search for the next chancellor begins
University of Missouri system leaders released new details about the search for the next person to replace Brady Deaton as chancellor. The UM Board of Curators wrapped up its annual meetings today on the University of Missouri campus. System leaders dedicated time to talk about the search process for the next chancellor. Deaton announced he’s retiring after 24 years with the university on Wednesday.
System president Tim Wolfe says his ultimate goal is to have someone hired by November 15th, the day Deaton officially steps down. He says the search process has already started, but they don’t have many details of what they’re looking for.
Right now a lot of the details are still in limbo to see who replaces Chancellor Brady Deaton. Tim Wolfe says university leaders are trying to figure out who needs to be on the search committee. He tells ABC 17 News they want to make sure they get input of positions like faculty and administrative members.
“Going out to the constituency groups, asking for their opinions in terms of characteristics, skills, competency that they are looking for suggesting in the next chancellor,” Wolfe says.
Wolfe agrees having someone hired in five months is a tight turn. In past large searches for positions like system president, the search lasted much longer than that. It took system leaders about a year to find and hire Wolfe. But he says what’s on their side is they have previous experience with searches to this extent. The choice will have to get the okay from Wolfe.
“This is a choice the board will ultimately have to make because of the amount of funding, but it’s the president’s choice and it will be run under the structure he puts together,” UM Board of Curators chair Wayne Goode explains.
Wolfe says the next person needs to have similar academic and leadership qualifications to what Deaton did. But they’re not going to rush the process either.
“We will not sacrifice quality for time, so if in fact we can’t come up with the right candidate pool or the right people to look at, we will not sacrifice for a lesser candidate,” Wolfe explains.
The other aspect to this hire deals with money. According to university leaders, last year Deaton made a base salary of $333,076. When we asked Wolfe about how much the system is willing to pay, he wouldn’t go into any details.
