Feb 25, 2007 - 03:55:20 CST
Associated Press
Spending nearly $100,000 on a consultant to help find a new university system chancellor and new presidents for two colleges was not a waste of money, higher education officials say.
Local candidates were hired to fill all three jobs after national searches were conducted.
The North Dakota University System will pay $96,000 to Washington, D.C.-based consultant RH Perry and Associates, which helped in the searches for chancellor and presidents of Mayville State University and the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton.
Interim presidents Gary Hagen at Mayville and John Richman at Science were given the jobs full time, and Bill Goetz, Gov. John Hoeven's chief of staff, was handed the chancellor's job.
Eddie Dunn, the current chancellor who is retiring this summer, said hiring the consultant was the right decision because the process gives the new hires credibility.
"It's good to know they won it in a national search," Dunn said. "It wasn't just handed to them because they were in the state and inherited it."
Board of Higher Education President John Q. Paulsen said the consultant brought in highly qualified candidates to be considered for each position, and the North Dakota candidates still came out on top.
Dunn said the consultant not only found candidates but also did other work such as background checks.
Board member Richie Smith, who was chairman of the chancellor search committee, said he favors using a consultant and a similar process to find a replacement for University of North Dakota President Charles Kupchella, who plans to retire next year.
"Having gone through this, it's invaluable," Smith said.
Paulsen said he will spend the next several weeks organizing a search committee to find Kupchella's successor.
"There are a lot of people to consult," he said. "I want to move expeditiously but also very carefully."
PO3 wrote on Feb 25, 2007 4:11 PM:
No Financial Repsonsibility wrote on Feb 25, 2007 12:40 PM:
Ah Yes... wrote on Feb 25, 2007 11:22 AM:
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