'Phenomenal' number of responses to U of A presidential search survey

The University of Arizona’s presidential search consultant has received more than 3,500 responses from students, alumni, faculty and staff about qualities they hope to see in the next university president.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of engagement, in fact, an overwhelming amount of engagement,” said Alberto Pimentel, co-founder of SP&A Executive Search.

Pimentel shared the number at the UA’s presidential advisory search committee meeting Tuesday afternoon, before the group went into private executive session to discuss potential candidates.

Other searches he’s overseen have averaged only a couple hundred responses, Pimentel said.

“In all the years that I’ve done this, this is the highest number of responses that I’ve received from anywhere of any institution that I’ve represented the last 30 years,” Pimentel said. “And we’re not done yet. That’s phenomenal.”

So far, the majority of feedback has been from alumni, who have provided 1,349 of the survey responses. Following them are staff with 907, then 495 faculty, 437 undergraduate students, 212 graduate students, 56 “designated campus colleagues” and 19 postdocs.

Though not all the data is publicly available, Pimentel noted the leadership experience the survey responders are hoping for.

The majority, or 2,842, said the UA’s next president should have academic experience, followed by 2,676 saying the candidates should have “university administrative” experience.

Next, 1,291 respondents say the new president should have government or public service experience, 1,099 want to see corporate leadership experience, 933 call for nonprofit leadership experience, and 634 are looking for international experience.

A need for “exceptional leadership skills,” he said, was first on the list.

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“While individuals described it quite differently, depending on their perspective or their experience in the university, it really came down to several bullet points,” Pimentel noted. “We see exceptional leadership skills defined as the ability to develop a compelling and comprehensive vision for the university, something that will excite others, something that will excite the campus community, something that will pull everyone together.”

Under that category, he said, were responses that spoke to a need for “the ability to inspire and motivate others during a period of change, a period of frustration, and in some cases, a period of distress.”

Also included was having a president “willing to be held accountable for the decisions that are made,” as well as the desire to have candidates with strong managerial skills, knowledge about dealing with multiple complex revenue streams, and with political savvy.

“This is important for us to know because it helps (us) start to formulate our strategy for how we’re going to pursue this,” Pimentel said.

He said the survey responses help the search firm to identify “very distinct areas that are categories for leadership” that respondents want to see in the next UA president.

Next steps, Pimentel said, include SP&A creating a “position profile,” which his team hopes to present to the search advisory committee on Friday. Once completed, it will be used as the framework through which the committee and the search firm will evaluate candidates.

There was an “overall optimism in the future of the university,” Pimentel did note.

“’Let’s move on,’” he said the responses implied. “’Let’s move onto the next chapter.’”

Current UA President Robert C. Robbins announced in early April that he will step down by the end of his contract in June 2026 or sooner if a successor is in place. The university is operating in a $162 million deficit but is expected to decrease it to $52 million next year, officials have said.