University of Massachusetts search committee begins interviewing candidates for president
The Republican
November 4, 2010
The committee charged with finding a new leader for the University Massachusetts system is interviewing candidates, said the committee’s chairman.
James J. Karam, who’s also a member of the UMass Board of Trustees, said that more than 15 are being interviewed but declined to give an exact number. He said more than 300 names were submitted for consideration.
UMass President Jack M. Wilson will step down as president when his term ends on June 30. He has been president since Sept. 2, 2003. He announced he was leaving March 1. The 23-member search committee was named later that month.
Members of the committee and the Florida-based Greenwood/Asher & Associates Inc. hired to help the search met with students, staff and others in Amherst and on other campuses in September as they compiled information about what constituents were seeking in a new leader.
Those on campus said that the next president should be an advocate for public education and bring state funding back to the system. The new president should also be someone not steeped in academic administration and someone who understands the land grant institution’s long tradition.
