In today’s Presidential Search Committee meeting, the University of South Florida Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Rhea Law to remain as permanent leader of the institution.
Courtesy of USF
By Sofía García Vargas
After an extensive seven and a half month search, the University of South Florida Board of Trustees (BOT) appointed Rhea Law as the institution’s eighth president.
In today’s three hour long BOT meeting, both candidates –– Law and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Talley –– were given a last chance to showcase their experience and explain why they think they were fit for the position.
Following the presentation, the board discussed both candidates and several members nominated Law based on her role as interim president since July of last year.
“Based on experience as well and what they bring to the table, my suggestion would also be Rhea. And the biggest reason is because we’ve test drove [her] basically for seven months. And when you have a Seabiscuit running in the derby, you don’t stop that horse,” trustee Lauran Monbarren said.
Then, the BOT reached the unanimous decision of selecting Law as USF’s next leader.
“Rhea Law is the next president of the University of South Florida,” BOT Chair Will Weatherford said after the vote.
An emotional Law was invited back to the room after the decision.
“This is more emotional than I thought it was going to be,” Law said. “Let’s get back to work. I look forward to working with each and every one of you.”
“I couldn’t be more happy for you, your family and this university. You’ve earned this,” Weatherford said,
The presidential search was launched following former USF president Steve Currall’s sudden retirement in July of last year –– making it the shortest tenure in the university’s history.
Consequently, Weatherford recommended Law to serve as interim president.
“USF is always moving forward,” Weatherford wrote in the announcement. “That is why I am recommending an interim president who can inspire confidence while listening to and advocating for our students, faculty, staff and community; who has the leadership skills to help us pragmatically move forward on key issues; who respects the critical role of our faculty; who understands and can help advance our strong research enterprise and clinical expertise, and who has the relationships across our region and our state to garner even more support for USF.”
On Aug. 2, the BOT unanimously approved Law for the interim position.
“It is truly my honor to serve USF in this capacity, and it really allows me to give back to an institution who’s given so much to me,” Law said. “I think you all know that USF has been part of my life for the majority of my life in all kinds of different capacities, and I have seen the university grow and evolve into the dynamic powerhouse of knowledge, innovation and impact that it currently is.”
On Aug. 24, the BOT solidified its 15-member Presidential Search Committee, including university and community leaders. The board also selected firm SP&A Executive Search to aid the committee in attracting a diverse pool of presidential candidates. Both the committee and the firm worked along USF stakeholders to prepare a job description for the presidential role, identify and interview candidates and recommend a list of finalists for consideration by the BOT.
The search also included student, faculty, staff, alumni and community input through an electronic survey launched on Sept. 20. The questions asked participants to explain what short-term and long-term problems they think the next president will face, how USF’s assets can best attract viable candidates, what professional experience a candidate should possess and what personal qualities will make the next president “a strong cultural ‘fit’ with the USF community.”
The feedback from the survey allowed the committee to create a 28-page brochure that outlined USF’s prestige, opportunities and challenges the next president could anticipate, qualifications and characteristics the community expects from the next president, and more.
“The brochure that your input helped us create is a tremendous showcase of USF that will make our university stand out from the rest,” Mike Griffin, chair of the Presidential Search Committee and vice chair of the Board of Trustees, said.
In mid-February, Law announced that she would be applying for the permanent presidential position, despite continuous statements that she only intended to stay temporarily.
“I would like to officially express my interest in serving as USF’s eighth president,” Law said. “When I was asked to serve as interim president of the University of South Florida seven months ago, I pledged to create a smooth glidepath for the next chapter of our university. At the time, I couldn’t have imagined how pivotal this next chapter would be.”
“It would be a distinct honor to continue my service to this community, which has given so much to me. I would like to share some of my vision for our university’s pivotal next chapter –– a new era of collaboration as OneUSF.”
In her letter of application, Law stated that USF was at a turning point –– one that required “steady leadership, vision and purpose.” She also expressed her aspiration to focus on “giving faculty, staff and students the tools they need to maximize success within this new paradigm,” “creating a culture of inclusive excellence” and “building infrastructure for innovation.”
Throughout the search, the committee built a 18-prospect pool, which was reduced to two at a March 1 Presidential Search Committee meeting advancing Law and Talley to the final stage.
On March 4, both candidates participated in an interview session with the committee in which they discussed subjects like community engagement, fundraising and resource development, diversity, athletics and promoting “OneUSF.”
After the interviews, the committee evaluated each candidate and provided feedback on their answers. Most feedback provided by committee members leaned toward Law and the desire for her to stay as the university’s eighth president.
“Listening to President Law is organic. She knows this university; she knows this community and she understands the state,” one member said. “There’s no transition period issues. There’s no learning curve. When it comes to [Law], she’s a proven leader and she has been acting as a president for seven months now. And I would hate for that to stop while somebody else needs to learn about our area, our contacts and so forth.”
Following the discussion, the committee decided to proceed with both Talley and Law to the next step of the presidential search –– with Talley receiving seven votes and Law with an unanimous decision.
Yesterday, the candidates visited all three USF campuses to meet with faculty, staff, students and community members and explain why they were the best fit as the university’s next president.
Law’s appointment awaits confirmation by the Florida Board of Governors during its meeting next week.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
