News-Record.com

Wednesday's lead editorial.

North Carolina's state university system stands out for many good reasons and one bad one: secrecy in selecting leaders.

A comprehensive survey by the Fayetteville Observer found that no other state so consistently denies the public information about candidates for top university positions.

As UNCG, UNC-Chapel Hill and Fayetteville State University seek to hire new chancellors, the lack of openness excludes opportunities for public input and gives too much authority to just one person, the president of the UNC system.

The question is whether search committees should identify their finalists. In North Carolina, they almost always agree not to disclose the names of applicants, reasoning that confidentiality is necessary to attract the best candidates.

It's a powerful argument. Why would someone with a good job somewhere else want to risk his or her position by publicly applying for a post here? Doing so could be taken to mean he or she is unhappy and wants to leave. Worse, it's embarrassing if he or she doesn't get the better job.
But it's a fallacious argument, one not substantiated by the experiences in other states, the Observer reported. University administrators aren't penalized if they apply for other positions elsewhere, and the prospect of publicity doesn't discourage them.

It can head off problems by providing additional opportunities to examine the backgrounds of leading candidates — a service that professional search firms sometimes fail to provide.
The Observer has learned the names of the three Fayetteville State finalists through "sources close to the FSU search." It discovered that one filed for personal bankruptcy and another presided over "violations in procedures and a lack of fiscal oversight" at another college — information the hired search firm did not tell the FSU search committee.

The process generally used in the UNC system is heavy on secrecy. A search committee identifies three finalists and, with the consent of the university trustees, forwards the names to UNC President Erskine Bowles. The finalists are not ranked in priority order. Bowles makes his selection and submits the choice to the UNC Board of Governors for ratification. Then the new chancellor is announced. Neither the public nor even the Board of Governors knows who else was considered.

In other states, however, it's common to introduce finalists to the public and the university community, giving everyone a chance to get to know each other. That kind of open process can be very helpful in making sure the candidate who fits best is selected.

Some applicants might be uncomfortable with that, but others are likely to shine. Because a chancellor is such an important figure, on campus and in his or her community, a public audition could be an appropriate test of his or her abilities.

Secrecy simply isn't the best policy for North Carolina or the accepted practice outside North Carolina.