By JORDAN GREEN, Editor-in-Chief
The Regional University System of Oklahoma Board of Regents will not disclose the names of candidates applying for the Northwestern president’s job, regents leading the presidential search process said.
The university also won’t have a new president named by the end of April, the original timeline regents gave for the process’ completion, as interviews are slated to continue into May.
The news comes three months after longtime Northwestern President Dr. Janet Cunningham announced her retirement and roughly three weeks before the end of the school year. The search to replace Northwestern’s 19th president, and its first female president, began in February.
Regent Eric Fisher, who chairs the search, said confidentiality is essential to the process.
“It is our policy to keep applicants’ information confidential during the interviewing process, as most of the candidates are currently employed at other institutions and need to maintain confidentiality of the interview process,” Fisher said in an email to the Northwestern News. “Our policy exists so that we are able to attract a broader and more qualified applicant pool. Without confidentiality of the process, we likely would miss out on numerous well-qualified candidates.”
Thirty-one people applied for the position, regents said in a news release April 7, and a search committee tasked with reviewing applicants’ resumes and qualifications recommended eight applicants for further consideration. Virtual interviews with those candidates will begin April 18, and in-person interviews will begin in May, officials said.
Regents hired nationwide firm Higher Education Leadership Search to advertise the president’s position, recruit candidates and collect application materials. The job listing was sent to roughly 80,000 higher education professionals in the firm’s database and was advertised in higher education-related publications.
The Board of Regents will vote to hire the next president after interviews are completed. The new president will take office July 1.
Regent Jane McDermott, a Northwestern alumna who lives in Alva, said regents voted unanimously to keep the list of applicants confidential, in part, because they weren’t required to make it public.
“If you were running for bank president, or any other job, it wouldn’t be put in the paper who the three finalists were,” McDermott told the Northwestern News in an interview. “We do what we are required to do. We weren’t [required], so we unanimously voted to keep it the way it is.
“It’s a procedure and policy that’s been in place a lot longer than you and I. The applicants seem to really like it.”
McDermott first spoke about the replacement process during an on-campus forum in February, saying regents would be both transparent and confidential during the search process. She also discussed the timeline of the search.
Other colleges and universities, however, have changed their processes by naming candidates. When nearby Northern Oklahoma College hired a new president in 2021, the college named its finalists for the job and had multiple public forums for students, faculty, staff and community members to meet them.
Among the finalists in the college’s search was Dr. Wayne McMillan, the dean of Northwestern’s Enid campus.
Fisher said search committee members have undertaken a “careful and detailed review of the massive volume of the candidates’ application materials and for their dedication to NWOSU and its mission, culture and values.”
“The regents are committed to finding the right candidate to succeed President Janet Cunningham, who has masterfully led NWOSU for the past 16 years,” Fisher said.
“Hiring a university president is the Regents’ most important responsibility, and we have put in place a thorough and deliberate search process.”