Norfolk State University faculty members want more transparency in school's presidential search
The Virginian-Pilot
April 1, 2011
Norfolk State University had three finalists for the president's job in December and offered the post to one, who turned it down.
The names of the candidates are a mystery to the NSU community. Ed Hamm, rector of the Board of Visitors, said this week that the names will remain so because the board decided last year to have a closed search in hopes of attracting top-level applicants.
"If you're trying to do that, you must do that tactfully, mainly because they are likely to be employed somewhere else and doing an excellent job," Hamm said.
The privacy surrounding the search has angered some alumni and faculty for months. They said they were dismayed to learn about the job offer through talk at parties and murmurings on campus, rather than through correspondence from the board.
Joseph Melvin, an alumnus, said he'd heard about the finalists through conversations "swimming in the air." He wrote a letter to the editor of The Virginian-Pilot slamming the process. The letter was published Tuesday.
"I just felt compelled that no information was being shared, and I'm curious," Melvin said. "You can do a private search, but once you've selected the final candidates, you owe it to the public to say that."
Archie Earl Sr., president of NSU's faculty senate, said faculty members just want an update.
"I think the board needs to let us know why we don't have a president at this time," he said.
When the board began the search process last summer, members said they hoped to have a president in place by this July. Hamm said more than 70 applications have been received and that the search remains open.
