Kennesaw State’s faculty senate sent a letter to the Board of Regents on March 14 to highlight and remind the board about two conditions involving KSU’s presidential search.
Faculty Senate President Joya Hicks sent the letter, available from the faculty senate’s website, to University System of Georgia Vice Chancellor for Organizational Effectiveness John Fuchko on behalf of the faculty senate.
The letter addressed two of the main concerns the senate had after the BOR sent a letter to the presidential search and screen committee on March 8 which announced they would invite the presidential search finalists to Kennesaw’s campus.
The senate stressed in the letter the importance of the BOR choosing multiple finalists to visit campus to meet with faculty, staff and students.
“It is our view that a process involving multiple finalists visiting our campus is far superior to one that has a single visit,” the letter said. “Campus and USG stakeholders are best served if they are able to interview several qualified finalists.”
The Senate also recommended that the BOR set up a feedback system for members of the KSU committee to provide feedback to the committee about the presidential candidates before the BOR makes its decision.
In the letter Fuchko sent to the search and screen committee earlier this month, he said they would need the assistance of the search and screen committee in scheduling campus visits “during the five working day period outlined in state law,” which raised some concerns amongst faculty members that were also addressed in the letter.
The senate also reiterated to the BOR in the letter that the Georgia Open Records Act states that the candidates must be announced “at least” five days prior to their public vote for president. They wrote in the letter that the BOR could extend the time period “in order to facilitate valuable campus visits from multiple finalists.”
Fuchko responded to the letter in an email later the same day, March 14, thanking the senate for the feedback.
“We will take these recommendations under advisement as we move through the search process,” the email said.
The letter was originally drafted by a subcommittee created by the faculty senate after a meeting on Feb. 26. The faculty senate approved the letter before sending it to the BOR.
The subcommittee also plans to send letters to the presidential search candidates after they are announced by the BOR to directly invite them the KSU’s campus.
