Firm searches for new Exec VP

Nearly a week after Executive Vice President Marna Whittington announced that she is stepping down, a private firm hired by the University has begun its search for her successor and plans to conclude it by the end of this calendar year. Jim Hess, executive vice-president of Diversified Search of Philadelphia, said yesterday that, while a list of names has not yet been drawn up, the company has "begun to identify potential candidates for the position." Hess refused to disclose the names of any candidates because he said that in a search of this type, confidentiality must be guaranteed. Hess said the search will be a two-pronged effort. His company will conduct a "proactive" search, actively looking for specific candidates across the nation, he said. "We will proactively search for people at other institutions," Hess said. Diversified Search will also place advertisements in newspapers and journals to attract applicants. In the past, the University has successfully enticed administrators at competing institutions to come to the University. Hess, a former English doctoral student at the University, said he hopes Whittington's replacement will be selected by the end of this calendar year, adding that this is a "fairly aggressive timetable in this type of search." But Hess said he could not guarantee the search would be completed that soon. Hess stressed that his company provides the staff for the University's search, but that all important decisions are made by "President [Sheldon] Hackney and the people who he chooses." Whittington, who has been at the University for the past eight years, is the senior ranking woman in the University's administration. Executive Director of the President's Office John Gould said last night that, "of course, we will emphasize a search for minorities and women." Hess said that his company will not compile "a magical short list" of candidates, but will "bring candidates forward who will be evaluated," by the University administration. He said that the company will conduct a nationwide search and will look for qualified replacements in government, academia, and the private sector. While experience in academia is not an essential criteria, Hess said that Diversified Search will look carefully at a candidate's experience in higher education. "The person will have to have a familiarity with" academia, Hess said, adding that his company will "pare down" the number of candidates referred to the University. Whittington came to the University in 1984 after working in state government as Delaware's Secretary of Finance and served as Pennsylvania's deputy secretary of education between 1979 and 1981. Whittington will step down at the end of this month and Gould will fill in as acting executive vice president beginning September 30 and will remain until a replacement is found. Gould will retain his responsibilities in the president's office as well. The most recent search in the University's financial office was for Selimo Rael, formerly vice chancellor of financial and business services at the University of California at Berkeley, who was selected as the University's vice president of finance in the spring of 1991 after a 10 month search. The search, culminating in Rael's selection, was initially called off by administrators who cited no pressing need to fill the position. But soon after the University's state funding was slashed by $19 million in 1991, the University resumed the search. In her announcement of Rael's appointment to vice president of finance in the spring of 1991, Whittington said that "we've been limping along," adding that Rael was just the person to help the University deal with its financial crisis. Now that the University has been stripped entirely of its state funding, a speedy search for a new senior vice president -- the administrator who will coordinate the University's financial efforts -- seems even more crucial. "Everyone from the trustees down recognizes the importance of this position and the need for speed," Gould said, adding that those working on "the search are working just as hard as they can."

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