The University of Arizonaβs 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.
βWeβve had a tremendous amount of engagement, in fact, an overwhelming amount of engagement,β said Alberto Pimentel, co-founder of SP&A Executive Search.
Pimentel shared the number at the UAβs presidential advisory search committee meeting Tuesday afternoon, before the group went into private executive session to discuss potential candidates.
Other searches heβs overseen have averaged only a couple hundred responses, Pimentel said.
βIn all the years that Iβve done this, this is the highest number of responses that Iβve received from anywhere of any institution that Iβve represented the last 30 years,β Pimentel said. βAnd weβre not done yet. Thatβs phenomenal.β
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 βdesignated campus colleaguesβ 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 UAβs next president should have academic experience, followed by 2,676 saying the candidates should have βuniversity administrativeβ 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 βexceptional leadership skills,β he said, was first on the list.
βWhile individuals described it quite differently, depending on their perspective or their experience in the university, it really came down to several bullet points,β Pimentel noted. βWe 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.β
Under that category, he said, were responses that spoke to a need for βthe ability to inspire and motivate others during a period of change, a period of frustration, and in some cases, a period of distress.β
Also included was having a president βwilling to be held accountable for the decisions that are made,β as well as the desire to have candidates with strong managerial skills, knowledge about dealing with multiple complex revenue streams, and with political savvy.
βThis is important for us to know because it helps (us) start to formulate our strategy for how weβre going to pursue this,β Pimentel said.
He said the survey responses help the search firm to identify βvery distinct areas that are categories for leadershipβ that respondents want to see in the next UA president.
Next steps, Pimentel said, include SP&A creating a βposition profile,β 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 βoverall optimism in the future of the university,β Pimentel did note.
ββLetβs move on,ββ he said the responses implied. ββLetβs move onto the next chapter.ββ
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.