Sounds like a move in the right direction
We are entering the third week since on campus visits began. News should be forthcoming??
You have to guess that an offer has been made and that they are negotiating. He or she will have enormous leverage if they are coming from a provost or presidency at a more financially sound university. They may have had to open their books even more fully after the offer.
If a chosen candidate is currently a provost or president, another issue will be whether he or she will leave their current position during the winter break. A really good candidate's ethics may prevent him or her from putting their current university in a difficult position by leaving during the middle of the academic year.
Very good point. This concerns me a lot —- this could keep the humongous employed and having influence.
No way the board pays an extension for Padilla. They will either appoint an interim or pay up for the new person to start January 1.
Unless it's someone from outside of academe, the timing is starting to look like a summer 2026 start. Per vu84v2's observation, it's less and less likely that an incumbent senior administrator would leave their position by the end of the calendar year and show up at VU to ring in the New Year.
If there is to be an interim, the question is what they can bring to the position -- or, by design, not bring to the position -- during that six-month period. A respected dean of one of the VU colleges, perhaps.
I'm sure that folks are on pins and needles by now, given the importance of this particular presidential appointment. Is there a Lutheran equivalent of gazing at the Chapel for signs of smoke from a chimney? 😆
@david81 - I have been told that some Lutheran denominations are more Catholic than Catholic, but I appreciate your analogy.
I am really worried some empathetic yet inept board member will ask the humongous to stay longer. This delay is not good and we need to move forward. Why they could not decide on a president at the beginning of the academic year is beyond my comprehension.
I think we can rest easy, USC. There would be an open revolt on campus if Padilla gets an extension. The new board chair is not likely to retain a lame duck with one no-confidence vote under his belt.
Anyone think the provost might step in for an interim? Popular former dean of engineering, Valpo grad, decent fundraiser (but it’s not too hard to fundraise amongst engineers).
usc4valpo - They would have had to go through the posting, interviewing and hiring process to get someone started by July 1, 2025 to accomplish what you suggest. While finding a CEO for a firm in that smaller window might seem reasonable, it is just not how academia works. I don't fault the board for that. I do fault the board for not naming an interim president to start immediately or at least on July 1, 2025. I think there were (and still are) several good people who could do the job better than Pres. Padilla as a lame duck.
A few other comments:
-While I do think Valpo will name an interim if they do not have a new President start on Jan. 1, 2026, if you feel strongly that they might not I encourage you to contact Jon Steinbrecher (search committee chair and incoming board chair). I have contacted him on concerns assocaited with the transition and he responded in a thoughtful and timely manner.
-I suggest avoiding any attacks on Pres. Padilla's personal character. I think he was very ineffective in his job, but (from my knowledge) I have never heard anything that says he is a bad person.
@vu84v2 - I want to learn and I am naive. Why would it take longer in academia to make a decision? Why should it take longer to make decision, especially one that should have some level of urgency?
Also, Padilla has been an egomaniac and hasn’t been transparent enough
Some of it is the varied number of stakeholders — faculty and staff, but also students, and alumni, and community members.
Outside of academia, there is often an heir apparent. Valpo hasn’t had a president rise through the ranks in decades, so they have to search outside. And academia almost always engages a search firm, which adds time to the process.
I guess I don’t get it, but thanks for the explanation.
I don't have data or studies to document this, so it's simply a hypothesis: I think the way in which universities now typically hire new presidents -- national searches with search firms -- is part of the problem in terms of not infrequent lack of fit, mission alignment, and deep, long-haul commitment.
As kreitzerstl alluded, an earlier approach was to identify someone who rose through the ranks (especially a successful dean of one of the colleges) or through informal networks that may yield very promising candidates who aren't necessarily lifelong academics.
In the latter category, those who have served as elected public officials in positions requiring diplomatic people skills in high-ego environments and both retail & wholesale fundraising ability (and who aren't ideological zealots) can be quite effective in senior university administration, because their skill sets are very transferable.
I worked in industry and now work in academia, so I understand the concerns about the timing. There are a few points to consider:
- Almost all of academic searches for tenured professors, deans or senior administrators follow the academic calendar. Although it does vary by discipline, job postings often go live in June through October, for positions that start in August of the following academic year. Instructor-level or adjunct positions are shorter than this, perhaps months or 4-8 weeks ahead of time. For other administrators (such as IT, food service, or development), typically the timeline is also shorter. In addition, there often are interim department heads, interim deans or interim provosts.
- The more senior the search, often the longer it takes because there are more stakeholders. This because once the position is approved at the university level (typically the provost), the the department makes a recommendation, and the college / program head makes the offer. To hire a Dean or a senior administrator, the college and faculty usually are involved, and then the provost, president or board of directors have to get involved depending on the level.
- Often in corporate America, there is a president or CEO in waiting who is already part of the organization, so that the board is already familiar with the person and ready to decide. Probably, in academia, it is more common to go outside, and as noted, Valpo has most often hired from outside for president.
- Often, candidates in academia have their own commitments or may be under contract - they may be a president or provost somewhere else, and want to get through graduation, a fund drive, or accreditation. It also may be that these candidates have kids themselves, and do not want to interrupt high school education to move somewhere else. The academic year works for that as well.
Finally, I am a little less concerned with the timing: The fact that Collette Irwin-Knott is on the search committee is comforting. She already served one term as interim president, and it seems very likely that the VU search committee considered that there may be the need for an interim president. I have no idea if she would do it again, yet it is something they surely considered.
It is also true that Provost Eric Johnson is a likely candidate to be interim president. If he was a finalist to be permanent president, then that would be awkward.
