MSU prof invites presidential candidates to campus
1/14/2006 8:30:19 AM
Daily Journal

By ROBBIE WARD


Daily Journal


STARKVILLE - A member of the Mississippi State University Presidential Search Advisory Committee didn't like the idea of a closed search, so he is inviting three nominees to campus.


Mark Goodman, MSU Faculty Senate president on the advisory panel, informed the Senate on Friday that he has sent letters to the "perceived top candidates" for the MSU presidency.


"We contacted three prominent candidates to invite them to campus and the Starkville community," Goodman said.


Goodman did not mention the names of the three candidates invited to campus, but he previously has mentioned as quality candidates Mark Keenum, a Corinth native and MSU grad who now serves as chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran; Vance Watson, MSU vice president for agriculture, forestry and medicine; and Jim Cofer, president of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Thursday, Cofer confirmed that he will talk to the search committee.





Plea for secrecy


Tom Meredith, commissioner of the state Institutions of Higher Learning, and College Board members have said the search will be secret and the campus not informed of its new leader until he or she is hired. Friday, Meredith voiced concern over Goodman's actions.


"If in fact this information is correct, it is indeed unfortunate," Meredith said. "It violates the confidentiality of the process and places the search for a new president at Mississippi State in jeopardy. Neither the search committee nor the Board of Trustees has authorized any such action. No candidates have been formally announced, much less the top three."


Jan Greenwood, the hired search consultant, said during the committee's first meeting Friday that secrecy helps potential candidates maintain their current job security. Greenwood was unavailable for comment late Friday.


Some senators voiced concern as well. Goodman said that as he learns of more potential candidates, more invitations could follow.


"I'd be glad to invite any names they forward to us," he said.


The search will find a replacement for retiring MSU President Charles Lee.





The search process


The advisory committee will narrow the list of candidates to about five at its next meeting. Afterward, the College Board's search committee will take those names along with any added by the consultant to narrow the field to about three, from which the entire 12-member board will vote on a new president.


MSU's new leader is expected to be named April 1, Meredith said.


Publicity involving "potential candidates" in the search already has caused a reaction, Greenwood said. She claimed about 40 people have been nominated for the position but that "a lot" - she didn't specify how many - have withdrawn from the search.


Members of the MSU advisory committee were required to sign a confidentiality pledge involving the search. Goodman didn't sign the form, saying, "I hadn't made a decision."





Contact Robbie Ward at 323-98931 or robbie.ward@djournal.com



Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 1/14/2006 8:00:00 AM, section A , page 1