President Bill Roper
CHAPEL HILL – The search for a new UNC System president has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, officials said last week. But a practiced hand will remain at the helm.
“The timeline of the search has certainly been changed,” Randy Ramsey, Chair of the UNC Board of Governors, told the board.
Ramsey said he had hoped to be in interviews with candidates by now, but the process has been slowed by stay-at-home orders.
He said that Dr. Bill Roper, former Dean of the UNC School of Medicine and former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has agreed to remain as Interim President beyond his previously announced departure date of June 30.
And what better time to have a former CDC chief at the head of a university system with 240,000 students? How many other universities can say that?
IN THE ACCOMPANYING VIDEO recorded before social distancing and stay-at-home orders were issued, Ramsey describes the presidential search and the qualities the Board of Governors seeks in a new president.
“The most important thing the Board of Governors will do in the next decade, in my opinion, is hire the right president,” he says.
The president will set the tone for the 17-campus UNC System, Ramsey says. It will require communication skills, ability to build consensus among often strong-willed leaders, and of course integrity.
The Board of Governors did not hire a search firm, and it has set no deadline to name a new president.
“We’re not gonna put ourselves in a box,” Ramsey says. “We’re gonna get this right.”
Stakeholders have shared a clear preference for a candidate with North Carolina roots, he says.
“I think we all agree that person needs to be someone who understands our state. They need to understand how the system is funded from the legislature…. They need to be able to very quickly understand the 16 very diverse campuses we have that do great work in varied areas across our state who have very different missions.”
Will that person be a traditional academic? A businessperson? A combination?
“I can’t tell you who that’s gonna be, because I refused to put us in a box,” Ramsey says.
“We want to hire the best leader for the University System – not somebody that’s gonna make everyone happy, but someone that’s got the qualities that we believe will make North Carolina even better.”
Ken Grogan says
I applaud Chair Ramsey’s statement that the Board of Governors is not going to put itself in a box with a strict timeline to elect a new President of the UNC System. Also, It is comforting to hear that Dr. Roper has expressed a willingness to serve past June 30. These both tend to take the time pressure off.
I have a concern that if a President is selected before things settle down to normal (probably a “new” normal), this factor may unduly impact the selection process and the effectiveness of the new President. The old expression comes to mind for us senior citizens, “Don’t change horses in midstream.” Will there be students on the seventeen campuses this fall? What will be budget impact–the actions of the General Assembly which convenes later this month? What about possible layoffs, etc? And the list goes on. Looks like the most experienced folks (and that includes President Roper) we have should be on board to deal with these challenges. Rather than leaving the timeline for selection, vague. If Dr. Roper is willing, perhaps a starting date for the new President should be announced as July 1, 2021.