UH Board of Regents accepts Task Group's recommendation on presidential search

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Carolyn Tanaka, (808) 956-9803
Mia Noguchi, (808) 956-9095
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: Mar 2, 2006

HONOLULU — At a special meeting held on Feb. 28, 2006, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents (BOR) unanimously voted to accept the recommendation of the Board‘s Task Group on the Presidential Search to suspend the national search for a president and offer the position to current UH Interim President David McClain.

"I have come to fully appreciate David McClain‘s vision to increase autonomy for this institution and to develop a better understanding and appreciation throughout the state for all that our university system is and can be" said BOR Chair Kitty Lagareta.

Lagareta noted McClain‘s ability to get things done, the clarity of his perspective on what needs to be done to move the university forward, his willingness to listen, his leadership and courage in making hard and sometimes unpopular decisions.

At the BOR‘s regular meeting held earlier this month, the Task Group on the Presidential Search submitted a report to the Board describing its efforts in the process of a national search for the president‘s position. After a Request for Proposals (RFP) was sent out in mid-December 2005, two highly qualified national search firms were selected to a short list and interviewed. The Task Group also sought counsel from national experts on the roles and responsibilities of system presidents nationally, as well as on the search firms selected.

The overall feedback was that the Board of Regents should first seek to keep McClain onboard and offer him the permanent position.

The BOR will now begin negotiations with McClain on a contract for the position.