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Special meeting of the UH Board of Regents at the John A. Burns School of Medicine

The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents heard a report from its Presidential Selection Task Group which was charged with examining the logistics of a presidential search.

The group’s report included specific considerations on how to proceed with both appointing an interim president who can assume office in September and executing a search for a permanent president.

Interim President Task Group

The board approved that the Task Group work with Board of Regents leadership to identify a slate of 2–3 candidates for interim president for consideration by the Board at a meeting in July.

The members of the Task Group are regents John Holzman (Chair), Saedene Ota and Jan Sullivan

The interim president will serve only until a president is in place. It is expected that the selection process for the president will take some months.

Presidential Selection Committee

The board also voted to create a Presidential Selection Committee to be composed of the following regents:

  • John Holzman, Chair
  • Jeffrey Acido
  • Chuck Gee
  • James Lee
  • Barry Mizuno
  • Saedene Ota
  • Jan Sullivan

Ex Officio and non-voting members will be Board Chair Eric Martinson and Committee on Personnel Chair Coralie Matayoshi.

The board charged the Selection Committee with preparing as soon as possible a detailed plan for the presidential search, to include items such as a proposed charge for the Selection Committee, proposed statement of criteria for selection, recommendations on engaging the public and key university constituencies in the selection process, consideration of the use of a search firm in the process and associated costs, and proactive efforts to solicit and incorporate public input in the process.

Local Media Coverage

The kick-off of the presidential search process was live-tweeted by UH Communications Manager Jodi Leong and garnered a great deal of interest across local media, some of which is linked below. Search committee chair Regent John Holzman had a couple of appearances on KITV that were especially in-depth.

Check it out:

Insights on PBS Hawaii

The Thursday, June 13 episode of Insights on PBS Hawaii–a live, hour-long local news and public affairs program–will focus on the qualities that should be considered in selecting a new university president.

Viewer calls, emails and tweets are encouraged during the program, which is live from 8 pm to 9 pm on PBS Hawaii. A rebroadcast will air Saturday at 1 p.m.

Scheduled to appear:

  • David Duffy, President, UH Professional Assembly
  • Richard Mizusawa, President of ASUH
  • Tom Robinson, President of the Graduate Student Organization, UH Mānoa
  • Regent John Holzman, Chair, UH Presidential Selection Committee

Usually hosted by UH West Oʻahu professor Dan Boylan, the show will instead be hosted by veteran news anchor Malia Mattoch.

Please tune in!

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