ODU suspends presidential search after finalist withdraws

NORFOLK

The Old Dominion University Board of Visitors has temporarily suspended its search for a new president, ODU Rector Marc Jacobson said in an e-mail Friday.

The board didn't specify how long the search process will be on hold.

"The Board was pleased with the candidates forwarded to it by the search committee, including the finalists," Jacobson said. "However, due to the caliber of the final candidates, the board had difficulty reaching a consensus on one candidate for the position of president."

The announcement came after one of two finalists, Deborah Stanley, president of State University of New York, Oswego, announced on her school's Web site that she had withdrawn as a candidate.

"I was honored to have had the opportunity to thoroughly explore the presidency there," Stanley said in the statement. "I look forward to continuing to work closely with the New York Legislature, business, industry and our alumni to gather additional support for the college and Central New York region."

Jennifer Mullen, ODU's assistant vice president for marketing and communications, said in an e-mail that Jacobson would not have further comment on a timeline for the search, or the status of the other finalist, Richard Davenport, president of Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Neither Stanley nor Davenport was available for comment Friday afternoon.

Earlier in the week, leaders of ODU's Faculty Senate said they did not think the two candidates were strong enough and urged the search committee to expand the applicant pool.

Paul Champagne, the Senate chairman and a business professor, said Friday he was pleased that the board is putting the search on hold. "I think that it's absolutely the right thing to do," said Champagne, who spoke with other facul ty after the board's announcement. With the concern and feedback the board has received about the candidates this week, he said it was a good idea for the board to take a break before resuming the search.

"What they did didn't surprise me. In the final analysis, the board wants to do what's right for the university," he said.

The Board of Visitors met for more than two hours Thursday afternoon to discuss the search but adjourned without any public comment or plans to convene soon. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Sept. 19.

The board began its search in January shortly after Roseann Runte announced that she had accepted a similar position at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Runte left in June and John R. Broderick, who had served as her chief of staff and vice president for institutional advancement and admissions, is serving as acting president.

Denise Watson Batts, (757) 446-2504, denise.batts@pilotonline.com