The Board of Trustees announced their decision to appoint Edward Seidel as the 28th President of the University of Wyoming, March 4.
After controversy regarding past presidential appointments, the trustees wanted to ensure an open and thorough decision making process.
Selection Process
The first phase of the selection process included a selection committee made up of Wyoming citizens, faculty, students and trustees which created a position description of the UW President role. An outside search firm then recruited candidates from across the country. The selection committee was then able to narrow down the pool of candidates, which they then presented to the trustees.
Trustees then interviewed candidates remotely and selected three finalists to come to campus. Many individuals commented on the condensed nature of the process. Each candidate was on campus for one day, consecutively. During their visits candidates were required to present to the community during an individual forum held at the UW Gateway center.
“Each candidate had exactly the same kind of opportunity to meet with students, to meet with faculty, to meet with staff, have conversations with the community, visit with alumni,” Board of Trustees amember, Michelle Sullivan said. “There was a huge effort to make sure that those processes were exactly the same so that there was an ability to really see each candidate in the context of campus.”
Associated Students of the University of Wyoming President, Jason Wilkins was able to sit in on the final interviews with candidates.
“[Wilkins] was incredibly important to the process and really informed us about what he was observing in student engagement and what he was hearing from his fellow students,” Sullivan said.
Wilkins holds a position as a non voting ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees. This meant Wilkins had the opportunity to voice his opinion in meetings like any other member, but was unable to participate in the final vote.
“When I speak, I like to think that I have something worthwhile to say. And I do feel like I’m heard when I speak out,” Wilkins said. “Obviously, as a student representative, it’s kind of my job to be there and say like, you know this is maybe how students perceive these things or this is how this appeals to me as a student.”
In addition to the outreach trustees worked to achieve in Laramie, candidates were also sent to Casper to meet the community there. Candidate presentations were also streamed online for those who were unable to attend in person.
“My sense is they really wanted our feedback, the trustees wanted to make a good call for the University of Wyoming,” Dean of the UW Honors College, Peter Parolin said. “The challenge is, maybe everyone has a different idea of what is a good call for the University of Wyoming.”
Seidel
Seidel was the front runner for all trustees and many members of the UW community. As an individual with a background in academia, many people saw a strength in having experience outside of administration.
“Dr. Seidel will bring wonderful energy. I found him to be inspiring, the way he talked about his interest in the success of the state and his interest in the success of the people he worked with. I think he’s a kind person who’s really excited about making a difference not only for the University but the state as a whole,” Sullivan said.
According to the press release sent out on March 4, 2020, Seidel led multiple programs and academic research throughout his career. He is leaving his position as the Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation for the University of Illinois System.
“Everybody says we can’t continue to expect the same levels of support from the state that we’ve had. So we are going to have to have a really effective strategy for engaging state lawmakers. And I think that means being able to boldly and optimistically say what the University can do for the state. And I think Ed does that,” Parolin said.
Background
The appointment of Seidel came nearly a year after former president, Laurie Nichols was informed her contract with the University would not be renewed. Nichols held the position from May 16, 2016 to June 30, 2019. Her removal from office prompted controversy in the UW community.
“It’s been a gong show around here, with as many changes in presidential leadership as we’ve had,” Parolin said. “We hired Bob Sternberg, and that was a spectacularly unsuccessful and I think damaging presidency. And there was a lot of criticism of the process after that.”
Nichols was removed from office, as the first female President of UW, due to human relations complaints regarding harassment. Controversy surrounding this is still present today.
“As a trustee, we’re charged with holding the future of the institution in trust. And we thought that was what we were doing when that decision was made to hire Dr. Nichols and that decision was certainly at the forefront of the decision not to renew her contract,” Sullivan said.
Annika's Page 