President Rhea Law selected Christian Hardigree to replace Martin Tadlock as regional chancellor of the University of South Florida St Petersburg.
Courtesy of USF
By Aubrey Carr
After weeks of deliberation, President Rhea Law named Christian Hardigree as the next regional chancellor of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg today.
“I absolutely fell in love with the faculty, staff, students and community members I met at USF St. Petersburg,” Hardigree said in a press release.
“It’s clearly a special place, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lead such a vibrant campus. I can’t wait to get started and am honored by the confidence that President Law and other members of the USF leadership team are showing in me.”
Hardigree was selected from a pool of finalists consisting of Melissa Gruys, Kanika Tomalin and Hardigree.
A fourth candidate, Bjong “Wolf” Yeigh, was also selected as a finalist, but after a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, Yeigh chose to drop out of the running.
Hardigree is the founding dean of the School of Hospitality at Metropolitan State University (MSU), the third largest university in Colorado. According to her profile on the chancellor search website, Hardigree secured almost $4 million in external funds to support the school and led faculty through numerous curriculum redesigns.
Prior to her current role, Hardigree served as the founding director and a professor at the Michael A. Leven School of Culinary Sustainability and Hospitality at Kennesaw State University. She also worked as a senior litigation attorney and partner at Parnell & Associates.
Hardigree received her undergraduate degree from William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and her juris doctorate from Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.
When asked during her April 27 interview why she wanted to pursue the chancellor position, Hardigree said the answer was easy.
“You’re a small institution, you’re in a prime location, you’ve got phenomenal marine sciences, amazing journalism and media. There’s so many elements here that come together, that are exciting,” Hardigree said.
Hardigree said she sees USF’s consolidation as an asset, allowing the St. Petersburg campus to benefit from the larger university system, while still maintaining the individuality of a smaller school.
“’OneUSF’ I see as the opportunity to leverage the resources and support of a larger institution, but [still] maintain an enhanced value,” she said.
“You value community engagement. I see that as a competitive advantage in all that we do.”
How the candidates were determined
After reviewing each application, the committee met on April 14 to begin discussion on the potential candidates.
One-by-one the committee members went through each resume and cover letter, determining the best fits for the campus.
During the meeting, the committee noted aspects they found important to the role –– including previous community-oriented work and some type of background in research and education.
“You have to have a strong academic foundation and then have some experience [with community engagement], externally, and evidence that that’s an area that you can develop, and have a willingness to develop,” Alberto Pimentel, managing partner at SP&A Executive Search –– the company organizing the regional chancellor search –– said during the meeting.
As the committee went through the applications, they sorted each candidate into an A, B or C category. Applicants who were a perfect fit for the campus were sorted into A, applicants they were unsure of went into B and applicants that were not fit for the role were put into C.
After all the applications were sorted, the finalized A group moved on to the next stage of the search –– one-on-one interviews with the committee.
Nine applicants were chosen for interviews:
- Melissa Gruys
- Bjong (Wolf) Yeigh
- Andrew Hamilton
- Kanika Tomalin
- Robert (Bob) Smith
- Christian Hardigree
- Alan Shao
- Carl Goodman
- Thomas Burns
During their 45-minute interviews, each potential candidate was asked the same series of questions about their experience, work within their community and future goals for the university.
Five of the nine original candidates were dismissed, and one withdrew after this stage.
On May 4, the three remaining candidates began town hall-style interviews.
Each candidate spent 45 minutes in front of USF St. Petersburg community members, while answering questions submitted by the public.
Attendees were encouraged to submit opinions on the candidates for consideration by the search committee.
Hardigree will replace Martin Tadlock as the consolidated campus’s second chancellor after his upcoming retirement from his position.
“We are thrilled to welcome Christian Hardigree, a leader who brings a demonstrated history of academic and administrative experience, as well as an excellent record of serving the communities she has been a part of throughout her career,” Law said in a press release.
“I am confident she will be an outstanding advocate for the St. Petersburg campus and a trusted partner to me as we work together to continue the University of South Florida’s tremendous momentum.”
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