University Times

Because of difficulties in scheduling interviews with candidates, the chancellor search committee is running about two weeks behind schedule, according to committee chairperson James C. Roddey.

Originally, the committee had planned to complete interviews and background checks on candidates by early May, trim the list to four semi-finalists, and bring those people to the Pittsburgh campus later this month to meet with the University community.

But now the committee plans to bring the semi-final four to campus by mid-June and then recommend two or three unranked final candidates to Board of Trustees leaders during the third week of June.

Trustees still hope to formally elect the new chancellor at their June 20 annual meeting, but recent delays may throw off that schedule, Roddey said this week. If so, the board will hold a special meeting later in the summer to elect the chancellor.

"I've spoken with the chairman of the Board of Trustees, J. Connolly, and he and I both agree that it's more important to hire the right person and follow the search process that's been agreed upon, rather than meeting some strict deadline," said Roddey, a Pitt trustee and managing general partner of Allegheny Media.

"The reason we're running behind, basically, is because the types of individuals we're interviewing have been very busy in May with commencements and so forth," Roddey said.

Seven university presidents and one provost are still in the running for the Pitt chancellor's job, and all of them want their candidacies to remain secret until the four semi-finalists are named, he noted.

To maintain confidentiality, the search committee has been meeting with candidates off-campus — in some cases, outside the city, although interviews with the remaining eight candidates are being conducted in Pittsburgh, Roddey said. As of this week, the committee has interviewed four of the eight candidates, he said.

In conducting the two-hour interviews, the search committee follows a list of prepared questions. See list on this page.

— Bruce Steele