Virginia Tech’s search for its 17th president will likely take at least six to eight months — far longer than the timeline initially proposed by the board’s rector.
The university has hired the Boston-based firm Isaacson, Miller to lead the search, and Rector John Rocovich appointed a 23-member search committee to find a replacement for longtime President Tim Sands, who said last month he would step down. Nancy Dye, who was appointed to the university’s board of visitors by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, will head the committee.
The search committee — which includes all members of the board of visitors, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s recent appointees and members of the alumni association — met officially for the first time on Monday.
At the board of visitors’ April meeting, Rocovich said that he believed the hiring of a new university president could be done by July 1. But Greg Esposito of Isaacson, Miller on Monday advised members of the committee that the search could take six to eight months.
Board member Jeanne Stosser pushed back, questioning why the process would take so long and whether a long search could push interested candidates away.
“Sooner than later in our world is a better result than if something’s being dragged out for a year. You lose all kinds of people. You lose all kinds of forward movement, people’s interest. They take other jobs, they do all kinds of things,” she said. “So my question is, why on earth would it take eight months to do anything? Is that an administrative direction?”
Esposito said the firm needs time to talk with the committee and understand its directives and what the university is looking for, to learn about the position, to recruit candidates and to ensure that the Virginia Tech community, including alumni and regions across the state — not just in Blacksburg — feel heard.
Last year, Isaacson, Miller assisted in the University of Virginia’s search to replace President Jim Ryan, who resigned in June after the Trump administration demanded he step down amid a Justice Department investigation into whether he and the school had complied with a presidential executive order to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
In December, UVa appointed Scott Beardsey, who was previously dean of the Darden School of Business, as president amid some concerns among faculty that board members had engaged improperly with Youngkin, caved to political pressure and rushed the presidential search, The Cavalier Daily, the student newspaper, reported.
The timing of Sands’ announcement also raised concerns among some observers.
In April, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, said that they were shocked by Sands’ impending departure, and Kaine hinted at political motivations for a quick search.
“This action has the earmarks of previous well-publicized efforts to oust Presidents at other Virginia public universities — VMI, UVA and George Mason,” Kaine said in an April 9 statement. “I urge Governor Spanberger to get to the bottom of this latest attack on Virginia higher education and take all necessary action to insulate university leadership from politically-motivated schemes.”
Nearly all the members of the current 13-person board of visitors were appointed by Youngkin, a Republican. Last month, Spanberger made her first appointments to the board ahead of the July 1 start of their terms, and Rocovich agreed they would be part of the search committee.
Bridget Ryan Berman, vice president of the Virginia Tech Alumni association board and a member of the search committee, said at Monday’s meeting she has been involved in several leadership searches over the past few years, and some have taken up to a year.
“We’ve had situations where we haven’t found the right candidates and we’ve gone back to the drawing board again. It was really about getting the right person. I think the most important thing is that we’re very deliberate,” Berman said.
“It had … raised some concern about whether or not we were looking to rush it and not really create the right architecture. But from everything that’s been discussed and outlined today, it feels like there is a desire to make sure that we have a very comprehensive, inclusive and deliberate process, and I think that’s certainly what we owe the university.”
Many faculty members who attended a listening session hosted by the search committee Monday evening also raised concerns about the timeline of the search and the makeup of the search committee.
“It strikes me that the faculty are not as well represented on this committee,” said Ann-Marie Knoblauch, director of Virginia Tech’s School of Visual Arts.
She also noted that she thought the process seemed “sped up a bit” compared to the process that ultimately led to Sands’ appointment in 2014. Sands’ predecessor, Charles Steger, announced in May 2013 he would step down, and Sands’ appointment was announced that December, before he took office the following June.
Faculty members questioned Rocovich on whether outgoing board members will remain on the search committee — they will — and how faculty can provide more input. They will be surveyed, Rocovich and Dye confirmed.
They also shared hopes for continued support for graduate programs and the need for a president who understands the role of land-grant research universities.
What students want
The search committee has held two listening sessions so far to hear from faculty and students, the first in what search firm representatives say could be many engagement sessions.
The committee hasn’t yet released a framework for the search or agreed upon a process, but students are already weighing in on what they’d like to see in the university’s next president.
At last week’s student listening session, several of the 19 people who spoke said they want a president who will advocate for students and stand firm against political influence, be transparent, and continue to drive innovation and research. Sands has been widely credited with helping to strengthen the region’s biomedical sector and to bring Amazon’s HQ2 to Virginia.
Jules Nind, a sophomore and student activist, criticized Sands for not taking a stance on issues related to international students and immigration.
“I’d like to see someone communicative, someone who really has the best interest of the students at heart. I wouldn’t exactly say that [Sands] doesn’t care about the students, but I feel like he hasn’t been as communicative with us as I feel like he should have been,” Nind said.
“I’d just like to see a president who’s more willing to have open dialogues with the students and make statements clearly rather than sort of just sweeping things under the rug and ignoring things.”
Search firm representatives presented committee members a draft timeline of the search; it could include more listening sessions and a survey before the firm would begin helping the committee vet nominations and potential applicants.
The position description and desired characteristics would be updated following that feedback, according to Esposito, and the firm will ultimately help vet candidates according to the committee’s priorities.
“This is going to be a search, I believe, with many, many people raising their hands for it,” Esposito said. “This is a big decision. Virginia Tech doesn’t do a lot of presidential searches and that is a good thing; we want to leave it that way.”
Sands took the helm of Virginia Tech in June 2014. As recently as August 2022, the board of visitors extended his contract through June 2027 with an annual base salary of $778,380, according to the contract, which was obtained through a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request.
Sands has said he would stay in his position until his successor is found.
The committee’s next meeting could take place this summer.
Esposito said it was unlikely the firm would have a list of candidates for the committee by June or July. Rushing the process could create the perception that there is already someone in mind for the position, he noted to committee members.
In addition to assisting in UVa’s presidential search, Isaacson, Miller also worked with the University of Lynchburg recently to find a successor for President Alison Morrison-Shetlar and is working with the Washington and Lee University presidential search committee.
The firm is also working with Texas A&M, West Virginia University, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the University of Northern Colorado to find those institutions’ next presidents.
Erick Solorzano, Abby Steketee and Elizabeth Beyer contributed information to this report.
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Correction 10:30 a.m. May 12: Isaacson, Miller helped the University of Lynchburg hire a new president this spring. The timing of the search was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.
