Oregonian
September 12th, 2014
The search for a new president of the University of Oregon will be a marked departure for the school, conducted largely in private and run largely by the chairman of the new board of trustees.
It will be marked by recruiting people who may not be thinking of themselves as the university president, Chairman Chuck Lillis said as the board voted 12-1 on Thursday to approve the plans he drew up.
"There's a pretty good chance that the person we think is terrific isn't looking for a job, and we may have to convince them that this is where they should land," he said.
The plans give Lillis much of the authority for the search. For example, he alone has power to rank and eliminate finalists, The Register-Guard in Eugene reported.
In the last two searches, in 2008 and 2011, the state appointed broadly representative search committees of 21 to 25 members, who shared the responsibility of identifying, vetting, interviewing and forwarding candidates.
Lillis said the university needs a new approach because of a host of factors, including the "churn of presidents."