NIce of him. Still doesn't explain why they hired the least qualified finalists and ignored all faculty and staff input:
A member of the Iowa Board of Regents said Thursday that the board may have “dropped the ball” during the search for a new University of Iowa president, but urged the UI community to give the new president a chance.
Regent Subhash Sahai, a physician from Webster City, told his fellow board members Thursday that he was “angry, mad and most importantly sad” upon learning last month that a majority of the board had met with incoming UI President Harreld this summer before the search committee had begun evaluating applications.
“And I think my words at the time … were, ‘I am pissed,’ and that’s not the language I usually use,” said Sahai, who received his medical degree from UI in 1973.
Sahai said he has since had conversations with President Bruce Rastetter and President Pro Tem Katie Mulholland, who assured him that the early meetings with Harreld did not prejudice them against the other three finalists for UI president.
Although having no reason to doubt those assurances, Sahai said, the early meetings did create the perception that the search process was “less than impartial." The revelation of the meetings further added to the already intense negative backlash among many UI faculty, students, staff and community members.
“To the people of the university, state, alumni, I can only say that maybe we dropped the ball,” Sahai said.
Hundreds of members of the UI community protested outside Wednesday’s board meeting in the Iowa Memorial Union on the UI campus. They interrupted the meeting to deliver a printout of an online petition – with about 1,000 signatures – calling for the board to reverse its appointment of Harreld as president.
“The people at the university love this place, and their anger is understandable,” Sahai said.
The board’s Sept. 3 selection of Harreld was unanimous, but came after 90 minutes of closed-session discussion.
“I want people at the university to know that we had passionate, intense and rigorous debate about the choice for a candidate,” Sahai said. “I’ve always maintained that a decision of this magnitude requires a unanimous support. ... Right or wrong, I stick with it, and I think the majority of the people on the board at the time felt it was the thing to do.”
Sahai praised Harreld’s efforts to reach out and meet privately with his critics over the past few weeks. He urged the incoming president to continue those efforts after officially beginning the job next month.
“Finally, I beseech the principals of the university to give Mr. Harreld a chance with utmost sincerity,” he said. “Your and our future depends on it.”
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/.../regent-sahai-maybe-we-dropped-ball/74390392/
A member of the Iowa Board of Regents said Thursday that the board may have “dropped the ball” during the search for a new University of Iowa president, but urged the UI community to give the new president a chance.
Regent Subhash Sahai, a physician from Webster City, told his fellow board members Thursday that he was “angry, mad and most importantly sad” upon learning last month that a majority of the board had met with incoming UI President Harreld this summer before the search committee had begun evaluating applications.
“And I think my words at the time … were, ‘I am pissed,’ and that’s not the language I usually use,” said Sahai, who received his medical degree from UI in 1973.
Sahai said he has since had conversations with President Bruce Rastetter and President Pro Tem Katie Mulholland, who assured him that the early meetings with Harreld did not prejudice them against the other three finalists for UI president.
Although having no reason to doubt those assurances, Sahai said, the early meetings did create the perception that the search process was “less than impartial." The revelation of the meetings further added to the already intense negative backlash among many UI faculty, students, staff and community members.
“To the people of the university, state, alumni, I can only say that maybe we dropped the ball,” Sahai said.
Hundreds of members of the UI community protested outside Wednesday’s board meeting in the Iowa Memorial Union on the UI campus. They interrupted the meeting to deliver a printout of an online petition – with about 1,000 signatures – calling for the board to reverse its appointment of Harreld as president.
“The people at the university love this place, and their anger is understandable,” Sahai said.
The board’s Sept. 3 selection of Harreld was unanimous, but came after 90 minutes of closed-session discussion.
“I want people at the university to know that we had passionate, intense and rigorous debate about the choice for a candidate,” Sahai said. “I’ve always maintained that a decision of this magnitude requires a unanimous support. ... Right or wrong, I stick with it, and I think the majority of the people on the board at the time felt it was the thing to do.”
Sahai praised Harreld’s efforts to reach out and meet privately with his critics over the past few weeks. He urged the incoming president to continue those efforts after officially beginning the job next month.
“Finally, I beseech the principals of the university to give Mr. Harreld a chance with utmost sincerity,” he said. “Your and our future depends on it.”
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/.../regent-sahai-maybe-we-dropped-ball/74390392/
