By Jovelle Tamayo / Editor-in-Chief
Board members phoned in Friday night to a special Board of Governors meeting regarding the University presidential search.
University Secretary Leslie Fehrenbach, Associate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel John Wolfe, and BOG Student Representative Kristen Clarke were present at the table.
BOG chair Ralph Izzo and William Funk of R. William Funk & Associates, the firm responsible for conducting the search, were among the parties on the phone line.
The open session started at 6:30 p.m. at Winants Hall on the Old Queens campus and was scheduled to close to the public at 6:35 p.m., but instead closed at 6:42 p.m. after a dialogue between Clarke, Izzo, and Funk.
“I’m … assuming that you will be getting a list of the final candidates and making your decision shortly,” said Clarke, a School of Arts and Sciences senior. “Even if that’s not the case right now, it will be soon.”
Clarke stressed the need for transparency in making the final decision and offered suggestions for creating a more open forum between the University search committee, students and faculty before a final decision is made.
“The 24-member community isn’t exactly representative of the entire University community,” she said. “There’s a lack of transparency and a lack of dialogue regarding the issue.”
Many University student leaders were under the impression that the top candidates would be brought forward to answer questions from the public, so they may be evaluated based on how they interact with the community, Clarke said.
But that is not the case, she said. The top candidates will be presented to the board and voted on by the board.
“There are so many ways to involve students and the overall Rutgers community, and the fact none of this has been done is disheartening,” Clarke said. “To ignore their voices is to ignore the 60,000 students, 10,000 staff, and hundreds of thousands of alumni and community members that are … involved,” Clarke said.
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