News
TECHNICIAN
PAGE 3 • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018
Meeting called to appoint interim UNC System president COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Mary Dare Martin News Editor
The UNC System Board of Governors has called a second emergency session this week to consider who will take over as the interim president of the 17-campus system. News outlets including WRAL and the Carolina Journal have reported that the appointment will go to Dr. William Roper, the chief executive of UNC Health Care. Jason Tyson, director of Media Relations and spokesperson for the UNC System, said that it cannot be confirmed who the board is planning to consider at this time. On Friday, Board of Governors Chair Harry Smith Jr. announced that effective March 1, the Board of Governors will move into an interim process so that finding a new president will not be rushed. Tyson said that interim appointments for the UNC System president are not common.
“An interim appointment is rare, and I think we’ve only had a few in our history,” Tyson said. “We did have one briefly from Jan. 1 to March 1 of 2016. That was the time between the last president and the time the President Spellings could start.” In the past, the appointment of an interim president is determined by discussion and vote of the board. Roper announced his plans to retire from his position at UNC Health Care next May. He has also served as the dean of the UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs since 2004. Regarding the search for a permanent president following Spellings, Tyson said that the Board of Governors has not announced when it will begin looking for applicants. Spelling’s term will end on March 1. In past decisions, the Board of Governors used a committee system to find an applicant for the position. This method was used
in both the 2010 and 2015 president search. “The board formed three committees of the board,” Tyson said. “The first one was a leadership statement committee, the second one was a selection and screening committee and the third was a search committee. Those committees were made up of members of the board of governors and each of them had a purpose in the search selection.” According to Tyson, the duties of the committees are as follows: Leadership Statement Committee: • Solicit public input • Develop a leadership statement that sets leadership characteristics used in selecting the next president Screening Committee: • Review pool of applicants on relation to the leadership statement approved by the board
•
Recommend a list of applicants to the search committee
Search Committee: • Establish guidelines for compensation and benefits for the president • Develop a search plan and budget (approved by the board) • Determine one or more finalists to be presented to the board for consideration and election Tyson said that while this process has been used in the past, the Board of Governors can choose to change the search methods. During the press meeting last Friday, Spellings, who was expected to remain in the position for five years, announced that her leaving was by choice, due to personal reasons. The Board of Governors will meet Thursday, Nov. 1 at 11:30 a.m.
