Hall a finalist for Tennessee job
Kermit L. Hall has survived another cut in the search for a new president at the University of Tennessee.
The Presidential Search Advisory Council interviewed 10 candidates Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and narrowed the list to five on Thursday afternoon. The 19-member committee voted for four names to be removed from a list of nine candidates, with a candidate needing 13 votes to be officially taken off the list.
The Utah State University president was the second interview Tuesday morning and answered questions from the advisory council for more than an hour and a half. All candidate interviews and meetings to discuss and vote on candidates were webcast live on the University of Tennessee Web site.
“I’m hard-pressed to think of a process that has been more open or been more centered on securing an understanding of the integrity of the people with whom you are dealing,” Hall said in his interview. “I really applaud what you’re doing, although I know the cost … on both sides can be relatively high.”
At the start of Hall’s interview, he greeted students at USU who were watching over the Web. He also reassured his reasoning for interviewing for the job.
“My being here has nothing to do with any unhappiness related to Utah State University at all,” Hall said in the interview. “I’ve had a wonderful experience, I look forward to continuing [that] experience.”
Hall said the University of Tennessee presents an interesting and unique challenge that he would like to undertake.
During a Thursday meeting to discuss the candidates, members of the advisory council applauded Hall for having a sense of humor during the interview and said it was clear that he was completely dedicated to students.
At the Thursday meeting where the council voted candidates out of the search, Hall’s name was never mentioned as a potential person to remove from the search.
The next stage of the interview process will see Hall and the other four candidates meet in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday to be interviewed by the search committee. That same day, the committee will recommend no fewer than three candidates to the Tennessee Board of Trustees. The trustees will interview the remaining candidates on Wednesday and make a decision on the new president that day.
-str@cc.usu.edu