Officials will form an internal search committee — as opposed to hiring an outside firm — to find the replacement for outgoing University of Iowa Provost Wallace Loh, but the search could take up to a year.
Loh will become president of the University of Maryland Nov. 1.
UI spokesman Tom Moore said university officials have not yet decided who will be on the committee, nor have they picked an interim provost.
Loh, who will soon load his Jessup Hall office into moving boxes, will leave UI officials with a challenge far different from flood and budget management he worked on as provost.
With Loh’s departure, UI officials will be tasked with filling another top administrative position, the eighth time they will have had to do so since Loh was hired in 2008.
And besides a time commitment from the faculty and administrators who serve on these committees, the searches themselves have become a minor financial inconvenience for a university strapped for cash.
“[The cost is] certainly more than I wish it were,” said Regent Robert Downer. “I would not describe it as significant. It’s a relatively small part of the budget. But if, in particularly difficult financial times, you can save money, that’s a plus.”
In 2008, the UI spent more than $56,000 on its provost search, which included travel and lodging for on- and off-campus interviews, committee meetings, and advertising. Between the six other searches, the UI has spent $106,500. That figure excludes costs for the two searches that did not require funding or those whose bills are not completely tallied.
Claire Van Ummersen, a senior adviser with the American Council on Education, said slightly more than 50 percent of universities across the country choose to form internal search panels instead of hiring outside consultants. However, she said, universities that hire a search firm often also form internal committees to ensure that the candidates fit the schools’ needs.
Ummersen doesn’t think the UI will have a problem finding a qualified provost.
“Iowa is a very strong institution,” she said. “It’s respected in higher education. There’s a strong pool of candidates who would want very much to be provost at the University of Iowa.”
Moore said the eight administrative positions filled within the last two years do not constitute an abnormal turnover. For instance, he said, the post of vice president for Strategic Communications was vacant for eight years prior to last spring’s hiring. Similarly, the chief diversity officer and art museum director positions were vacated before Loh came to the UI.
At Indiana University-Bloomington, one of the UI’s peer institutions, officials have only formed five search committees in the last two years for a variety of positions, including vice provosts.
As for Loh’s departure, the announcement did not surprise some administrators.
“If he’s going to be a president, this is his moment,” said Associate Provost Tom Rice. “It’s a disappointment at Iowa to have him leave, but we understand and support him entirely. He’s been wonderful to work for.”
University of Maryland hosted a welcome ceremony for Loh Wednesday. Roughly 500 people attended, with many saying he will help the university with its goal to become more global, according to The Diamondback, the school’s student newspaper.