The University of Hawaiʻi completed a series of public county forums to gather feedback that will help inform the search for next president of the 10-campus UH System, the state’s sole provider of public higher education.
Approximately 85 people attended the six forums in person, and roughly 480 participated via Zoom. The forums, which took place on Oʻahu, Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island and finished on May 7, were scheduled by the UH Board of Regents (BOR) as part of the listening phase of the search process. A public survey completed in February received nearly 2,000 responses.
“We plan to take all of the feedback from the forums and the listening sessions and try to incorporate it into the presidential profile that’s going to go out to essentially search for candidates to apply,” said Erin Centeio, co-chair of the presidential search advisory group (PSAG).
Centeio said that the PSAG plans to incorporate all the feedback from the forums and the surveys into a presidential profile that will be presented to the BOR at their meeting on May 16.
“Beyond the profile, these listening sessions are going to help us understand who the community wants for a next president,” said Centeio. “As we look at applicants and do first round interviews, we will be looking to these forums as well as everything that’s been submitted to be able to help guide us in who the next president should be.”
The board announced at its March 21 meeting that it plans to name finalists in September and announce the next president in October. The new president will begin in January 2025 and will succeed David Lassner, who announced in September 2023 that he will retire by December 2024.
“The selection of the next president will likely be the single most important decision made by this board and we are committed to doing it thoroughly in an inclusive and transparent manner,” said BOR Chair Gabriel Lee in a previous BOR meeting.
The PSAG is made up of UH stakeholders and will make candidate recommendations to the search committee, which consists of all 11 regents. WittKieffer, a Chicago-based firm, was hired to assist in the search and will work with the BOR to develop the position description and profile of an ideal president and then recruit candidates.
