Dear Regent Ross:

Ten years ago, upon the announcement by Marshall Criser that he would retire from the Presidency of the University of Florida, an ad hoc group of senior faculty members from six different colleges of the University met on three occasions and drafted a set of criteria for the use of the Board of Regent in making its selection of the new President.

Called by the drafting group "Qualifications Expected of the President and/or Provost," the criteria, eight in number and arranged alphabetically, were printed and hand delivered at private expense to every on-campus teaching faculty mail box. A copy of the form is attached. A total of 424 responses were received back, constituting the largest expression of teaching faculty opinion on a University-wide question in any of our memories. And 96% of those respondents affirmed the drafting group's criteria as appropriate and necessary.

In a few words, what the 96% wanted to see in the next President of the University of Florida was an educator of national stature. Such a strong vote in that direction no doubt was influenced in part by the University's recent admission to the select Association of American Universities, and thus by our commonly shared sense that the institution stood on the cusp of national academic distinction.

The drafting group respectfully submitted the teaching faculty criteria to Ms. Joan Ruffier, Chair of the Board of Regents. Chairperson Ruffier and the entire Regents Selection Committee endorsed the criteria and stated they would be guided by them in their deliberations. Subsequently, Chairperson Ruffier and the Selection Committee came to Gainesville to meet with the drafting group. And, in April 1989, the surviving four Presidents of the University endorsed the same criteria (see copy of their statement, attached).

Now that the University, in 1999, stands in the same expectant position that it found itself in ten years ago, we the undersigned, who were the co-conveners of the drafting group, take the liberty of suggesting to you, Chairperson Ross, and to your eight fellow Regents on the Regents Selection Committee, that the eight criteria of 1989 have the same force and relevancy today as they had then. While we have not formally canvassed the teaching faculty this time, and while certainly we claim no right to represent or speak for its members, we are confident in stating our belief that the teaching faculty would sign off approvingly again on our original list of qualifications, particularly that one which calls for "demonstrated intellectual leadership and nationally recognized research or scholarly achievements."

If there is one new emphasis on Presidential qualifications that one senses in the teaching faculty mind today, we would say, based on our many recent conversations with colleagues, it is this:

strong support of faculty governance in matters of academic standards, policies, and rewards.

We speak here again of the teaching faculty, as separate from the Deans, Directors, and full-time administrators who predominate on the list of Academic Members of your newly announced Presidential Search Advisory Committee.

Thank you for your service to the cause of higher education. And good fortune in your search !

Respectfully,

Michael Gannon Raymond Gay-Crosier Distinguished Service Professor of Romance Professor Emeritus of History Languages and Literatures

University of Florida

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