The 17-member Regional Chancellor Search Committee is on the lookout for Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock’s successor.
Courtesy of Martha Rhine
By Aubrey Carr
USF St. Petersburg has taken a step forward in the search for its next leader with the solidification of The Regional Chancellor Search Committee.
Selected by USF Interim President Rhea Law, the 17-member committee is made up of faculty, students and local community leaders.
The committee selection was announced by Law through an emailed statement to faculty members.
In the same email, Law detailed the expectations and responsibilities of the committee.
“SP&A will work with [the committee] to finalize the position description, develop an aggressive national search process and recruit a robust and diverse pool of qualified candidates,” Law said.
SP&A Executive Search, a firm dedicated to the management of educational leadership searches, has been hired by USF to assist the regional chancellor committee as well as the university’s presidential search.
Law also described the type of candidate the committee hopes to recruit, citing a need for an “impassioned, inclusive and visionary” regional chancellor.
Law stated the ideal candidate would provide USF St. Petersburg with, “effective strategic leadership that advances the quality, reputation and ambitious goals of the university.”
The formation of The Regional Chancellor Search Committee comes after current USF St. Petersburg Regional Chancellor, Dr. Martin Tadlock, announced his plans to step down from the role earlier last year.
Having originally planned to give up chancellorship and return to his role as a professor in the College of Education on Dec. 31, 2021, Tadlock later amended that he would remain Regional Chancellor through the entire 2021-22 academic year.
In a phone call with The Crow’s Nest, Tadlock voiced the importance of community for the USF St. Petersburg campus.
“We are one USF, but this campus is also embedded in downtown St. Petersburg,” he said. “So, whoever comes into [the regional chancellor] role, would have to be the kind of person that appreciates and recognizes the importance of that.”
Tadlock stressed the need for his successor to understand the unity between the campus and the wider community of downtown St. Petersburg.
“They have to have a track record of working extensively with community groups, organizations and leadership in the community. It has to be the kind of person that really cares about what they call the ‘town and gown’ relationships,” Tadlock said.
The full 17-member committee includes:
** Thomas Smith, Chair; Associate Dean and Professor of Political Science, Judy Genshaft Honors College and College of Arts and Sciences
** Alison Barlow, Vice Chair; Executive Director, Innovation District
** Savannah Carr, Undergraduate Student
** Cindy DeLuca, Associate Vice President, Innovative Education
** Jake Diaz, Director of Student Success
** Lyman Dukes, Professor, College of Education
** Eric Eisenberg, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
** Tom Frazer, Dean, College of Marine Science
** Casey Frechette, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Journalism and Digital Communication, College of Arts and Sciences
** Kemesha Gabbidon, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
** Chris Garvin, Dean, College of the Arts
** Scott Goyer, President and CEO, YMCA of the Suncoast; Campus Board Member, USF St. Petersburg
** Jason Mathis, CEO, St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership
** Usha Menon, Dean, College of Nursing
** Carlos Moreira, Assistant Director, Office of Veteran Success
** Tonjua Williams, President, St. Petersburg College
** Tina Yang, Bank of America, Professor of Finance, Tiedemann School of Business and Finance, Muma College of Business
