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OTHER VIEWS Other Views: UO president search happened in the dark Comment By Corvallis Gazette Times MailTribune.com By Corvallis Gazette Times Posted Apr. 25, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Corvallis Gazette Times Posted Apr. 25, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News We welcome Michael Schill, law dean at the University of Chicago, to his new position as the president of the University of Oregon. The 56-year-old Schill was introduced as the new president during a press conference last week. At first glance, he seems like a good fit for a challenging job running the university. And, of course, "first glance" describes how the vast majority of University of Oregon students, faculty and staff got to meet Schill last week: He is the first president chosen by the university's new board of trustees rather than by the statewide Board of Higher Education. For those of us who had worried that these new governing boards in place at Oregon's public universities (including Oregon State University) might not put a premium on transparency as they go about their business, the presidential search that ended with Schill's ascension put up a veritable parade of red flags. The University of Oregon Board of Trustees, and the presidential search committee that spun off from the board, put a premium on secrecy during the search. (This coming after the board ousted the university's previous president, Michael Gottfredson, for reasons that still are not entirely public.) Earlier this month, for example, the university announced that a field of 10 unnamed semifinalists for the job had been narrowed to four. The names of those four candidates were not released publicly, although now, presumably, we know one of them: Michael Schill. There were no opportunities for students, faculty or staff to meet with any of the four finalists. Connie Ballmer, the UO trustee who headed the search committee, said that one or two of the candidates visited the Eugene campus without fanfare, possibly under the cover of darkness and maybe using pseudonyms — who knows? The other candidates already were familiar with the campus, Ballmer said. Ballmer told The Oregonian that the reason for the secrecy was that "confidentiality issues in this search are so important to the livelihoods of all these candidates." Nevertheless, the names of the four finalists for the president's job at Western Oregon University were made public. Congratulations, by the way, to Rex Fuller, who was appointed last week as the new president at WOU. Why the secrecy at the University of Oregon? Ballmer explained that UO's search firm told the trustees that the stakes for presidential candidates at bigger universities are often higher than those faced by candidates at smaller universities. But surely this is elitist balderdash. The principles in place are precisely the same. It's just that the University of Oregon Board of Trustees never has shown any particular commitment to carrying out its duties in the public eye. Our biggest worry here is that the governing boards at Oregon's other public universities will take their cues from how the University of Oregon's board handled its first big challenge: Mostly in the dark. Ironically, the Oregon search committee did hold public meetings last year about the traits students, faculty and staff wanted in their new president. At or near the top of the list of preferred traits: A good communicator. By Corvallis Gazette Times MailTribune.com By Corvallis Gazette Times Posted Apr. 25, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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