Marchase has what FSU needs

Marchase has what FSU needs

“There is a heated and divisive search to fill the university president position at Florida State University. Some appear to be waging what almost amounts to a partisan political campaign. This political campaign is distracting everyone from what is the real decision: who is the most qualified person to lead FSU.
No one should be surprised that a partisan political candidate's application has drawn some partisan political responses. If former Gov. Charlie Crist were applying for the FSU presidency, I would be willing to bet that some conservatives would oppose him because of his currently liberal political views.
A search centered around politics conveniently favors State Sen. John Thrasher. If people are forced to join partisan camps, many people will come to Thrasher's defense because they don't want to see a fellow conservative attacked by liberals. This narrative likely plays well among FSU's Republican dominated board of trustees. The main benefit to Thrasher from this political discussion is that it is distracting everyone from his complete lack of qualifications to be president of FSU.
The overwhelming majority of the opposition among faculty, students, and alumni to Thrasher surrounds his lack of qualifications, not his politics. The faculty wanting an academic as president should come as a surprise to no one.
During the search that led to the hiring of T.K. Wetherell, the faculty senate passed a vote of no-confidence in the trustees when Wetherell, a former Democratic legislator, was the front runner because of his perceived lack of academic accomplishments. Wetherell had a doctoral degree and over 20 years of experience in college education.
Being university president is more than just a fundraising job. A university is a massive and diverse institution with a bureaucracy that requires seasoned leadership in order to make all its parts function well. This requires someone who gets things done to be a consensus builder. Given the divisive nature of Thrasher's candidacy, how long would it take him to become a consensus builder on campus? How long will it take him to raise money from disillusioned alumni who were not happy with his selection?
Yes, a university president does work with the legislature. However, one doesn't need to be a former legislator to be effective in this arena. It seems that any deficiencies that a university president might have in government relations could be solved pretty quickly by one of Tallahassee's many lobbying firms. John Hitt at UCF was not a legislator, but he had no difficulty hiring Thrasher to lobby for UCF to get a medical school. Thrasher achieved this for them, even while serving on FSU's board of trustees.
Research and prestige are two key components that drive success at universities. There are three candidates with proven research credentials who have applied and then there is Mr. Thrasher. What value can he add to research at FSU? How will he add prestige in the academic world to FSU? According to search consultant Alberto Pimentel, Thrasher is someone who would not be interviewed, let alone hired as president at any institution outside of Florida. To think of it another way, would Google hire someone as president that Apple or Yahoo wouldn't interview? The answer is a resounding no and it would be a terrible decision for FSU to hire someone with a worse resume than any top 50 public university president.
Fortunately for FSU, there are very qualified candidates for the university to choose from. In my opinion, the clear top choice among that group is Richard Marchase. Marchase has excellent academic credentials and has demonstrated experience and success in all of the areas that FSU has identified necessary of its next president. I have written to the board of trustees to encourage his hiring and hope others would do so as well.
For FSU to achieve its goal of becoming a top 25 public university, it needs an experienced president who can unite the FSU community to advance forward.
Hoyt L. Prindle III is a 2007 graduate of Florida State University. Contact him at hoyt@fbdc.net”