This is standard operating procedure at FSU, but I am posting just for recording sake.
FSU to interview Thrasher for president
"Allan Bense, chairman of the Florida State University Board of Trustees, insists that state Sen. John Thrasher is not a lock to be FSU's next president.
Trustee Ed Burr, who heads the search committee, says the same thing.
Bense and Burr nonetheless were among a majority of the search committee members who voted Wednesday to make the 70-year-old Thrasher, one of the state's most high-profile politicians and an ardent FSU supporter, the lone candidate they will interview at their next meeting on June 11.
Between now and then, the search committee expects Thrasher to formally apply for the position created when Eric Barron accepted the presidency at Penn State on Feb. 17.
The search committee, charged with recommending candidates to the trustees, took the unusual step of deciding on Thrasher without considering any other individuals because of the "large shadow" Thrasher cast over the process, according to head hunter William Funk.
Faculty and student members of the search committee were united in their opposition in the 15-9 vote, and their colleagues in attendance strongly voiced anti-Thrasher opinions during a 20-minute public comment period. Regina Joseph, vice president of FSU Dream Defenders, vowed that students would march in protest if Thrasher is brought before the trustees as the lone candidate.
Thrasher did not attend Thursday's meeting; he was at his mountain home in North Carolina, but he did speak to the Democrat following the meeting.
"The people who voted for me today are people who know me. The people who didn't vote for me are people who don't know me," Thrasher said. "I'm confident in my abilities and I think once they get to know me, some of them might have a different view. I hope they give me the benefit of the doubt."
When top-level candidates were asked to apply, Funk said, they all declined for one reason: the belief that Thrasher was going to get the job. Funk, who said he had spoken to Thrasher and the St. Augustine Republican indicated interest in the job, urged the committee to vet Thrasher and decide one way or the other on his candidacy. The other option, he said, was to continue a flawed search hindered by Thrasher's presence.
But there was at least a third option, said search member Eric Walker, chairman of FSU's English department.
"I'd be more than happy for Sen. Thrasher to withdraw his candidacy to the university. I think it would be a great thing for him to do, because I don't think he's a good candidate," Walker said. "I think we can do better. I think it would undo all the progress we made under Eric Barron. It would put us at risk."
Search committee members expect to interview Thrasher at their June 11 meeting to decide if they want to consider him as a candidate at a time the university is making a concerted push to move from No. 40 to the nation's Top 25 of public universities. That would entail having Thrasher meet with FSU faculty, students and alumni, among other constituency groups.
Funk has received 11 applications for FSU's top job, but none are top-tier candidates for a major research university, he said.
Former state Sen. Al Lawson, a member of the search committee, urged the disgruntled faculty members to use their contacts to encourage premier academics to apply to be FSU's president. The job remains open, Burr stressed.
Faculty members were nevertheless taken aback by the unusual nature of the search process, where they were being asked to consider only one candidate who had not even formally applied for the position.
English Professor Ned Stuckey-French, addressing the search committee, said there was a simple explanation for the unusual nature of the search.
"The reason (the search) is not normal is because Sen. Thrasher has hijacked it," he said.
Stuckey-French and others pointed to Thrasher's controversial attempt during the recent legislative session to uncouple the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, a move that FSU administrators welcomed while FAMU leaders were vehemently opposed to the move. Lawmakers eventually decided to approve $500,000 for the Board of Governors to commission a study of the joint program.
While Thrasher has successfully steered tens of millions of dollars to FSU from his seats in the Capitol, his detractors point to his lack of experience in higher education.
Thrasher this week received a glowing endorsement from former FSU President Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte, a Democrat, who wrote a three-page letter to the search firm nominating Thrasher.
"I would think if I'm John Thrasher, that's helpful," Bense said. "Many of us respect Sandy. I would think that would go a long way."
"Let the backlash begin.
One day after Florida State President Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte nominated Sen. John Thrasher to be the university's next president, the Florida State chapter of the United Faculty of Florida said it had "lost confidence" in the search.
"We now believe that there is ample evidence indicating that this process is not being conducted fairly, is not open and transparent, and is ignoring the needs of the faculty, students and taxpayers," the UFF said in a press release.
The group called on the university to add more faculty members to the search committee and change search firms.
The current firm "has exhibited a serious lack of regard for the opinions and input of our faculty and appears to be pursuing an agenda different than that of an open and honest search for the best candidates," the UFF said.
Earlier Wednesday, a coalition of student activists spoke out against Thrasher's nomination.
"Students are upset with the lack of transparency that this search process has undergone," the Tallahassee Dream Defenders, Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society, Florida State University Progress Coalition and Graduate Assistants United said in a statement.
The groups also expressed concern that the 30-member student search committee has only four members of color. And they pointed out that Thrasher had recently proposed splitting the FAMU-FSU engineering school -- a move they say would treat FAMU students "like second-class citizens."
"Florida State students and community members want a president who cares about the education of black and brown people, no matter what campus," the groups said. "FSU students demand a president who is ethically responsible."
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