IOWA CITY — Veteran University of Iowa administrator Jean Robillard said Thursday that he hopes his term as interim school president will be short and free of controversy.
Robillard, the university’s vice president for medical affairs since 2007, will take over as the school’s temporary leader Saturday as President Sally Mason steps down after eight years. He’s also the chairman of a 21-member search committee that is helping identify a slate of finalists to recommend to the Iowa Board of Regents to replace Mason — a position in which he has no interest.
Given his role as interim president, Robillard told reporters that he is “quite vested” in making sure the search is quick and successful and that the leadership transition is smooth. He said he’s confident the process won’t get bogged down in political disputes like one that ended in failure in 2006, when the regents rejected all four candidates that were recommended by the committee and opted to start from scratch before hiring Mason.
“I’ll do everything to not have this happen,” he said. “Honestly, it’s not even in the cards.”
The committee, which held a brief telephonic meeting Thursday, is beginning to evaluate 44 candidates who have expressed interest in the job. A few more are expected to join the pool before next week, when the committee will meet to identify a slate of eight to 10 finalists to interview in Chicago on Aug. 11-12. Eventually, a number of finalists will come to campus for interviews before the regents make their choice. Robillard said he hopes the regents name the president in early September, and the pick can be in place by the end of the calendar year.
He said his goal as interim president is to make sure “the place is prepared for the next president.” A former dean of the UI medical school and a pediatric nephrologist by training, Robillard said he has been quite pleased by what he’s seen from the candidate pool, which will remain confidential until the finalists are named.
“If we can attract some of these people here, this university will do very, very well,” he said.
Robillard said he would be looking for a president with a vision that the campus can rally around on how to educate students and serve the needs of the state. He said the next president needs to be a good communicator, accessible to students and employees and able to understand and manage large organizations.
He said he was open to considering a wide range of people with different backgrounds for the job.
“It could be a physician, a lawyer, an engineer, a writer. It’s irrelevant. We need a president who can really stimulate everybody at this university,” he said.
In the meantime, Robillard is looking forward to welcoming a freshman class of roughly 5,100 students later this month. The class is roughly 500 students larger than last year’s under a plan started by Mason to increase the university’s 31,000-student enrollment.
“For these students, it’s the chance of a lifetime to be educated here,” he said. “We want to make sure their experience is just outstanding.”