Committee evaluates search process
Utah State University’s new leadership received a stamp of approval at a faculty forum that met Friday to discuss the results of the presidential search committee.
The positive outcome was a relief for some.
“I had no thought at all about being in a search for a new president,” said Lowell Peterson, chairman of the search committee and a member of the Board of Trustees at Utah State University. “To be honest, I wasn’t happy. I was, most of all, afraid of failure.”
Peterson said a lot of responsibility is involved in looking for a new president and that mistakes are easy to make. However, he said, “We did not fail at all. We found an incredible president.”
“I was so afraid from what I heard about in past searches,” said Lance Littlejohn, a professor in the mathematics and statistics department. However, he said, “We all came together on this decision. It was nothing I could have predicted. In the end, this was clearly the best committee I’ve ever been on. I came this close to saying no. I’m glad I didn’t.”
Carolyn Rhodes, a professor in the political science department and a member of the search committee, said because of the “shroud of secrecy” involved in the selection process everybody should know that “there was no dissent about either of these people [Hall and Albrecht].”
James Kennedy, a professor in the Forest Resources department, said, “The first fear was that the Board of Trustees and the Legislature would think that USU needed a savior and not a president. That just wasn’t so.”
Kennedy said the second fear was that there would be “trouble and intrigue between the labor and management.
“There was none of that, and I was looking,” he said.
Ben Riley, president of the Associated Students of USU, also involved in the search committee, said to the faculty forum, “This is a situation that most students would probably long for. That’s to lecture to the faculty.”
Riley said he was impressed with the high quality of the search committee and attributed it to “high-caliber people coming together with a common goal.”
Riley said to the faculty that it was important to find good people to fill positions because the students “look for mentors and [the faculty] are their mentors.”
Hall spoke about the future of USU with regard to students and faculty.
“The future of this university is going to be our future,” Hall said. “Not the vision of a single person.”
Hall and many members of the faculty spoke of “telling our story better.” Hall spoke of plans to increase public awareness and funds for USU’s diverse programs.
Concluding his plan to tell USU’s story better, he said, “There is one thing I will absolutely promise you. I will not waste your time and I will not mix vision with hallucination.”