Gaetz, Saunders Advance in UWF Presidential Search

September 1, 2016

Former state Senate President Don Gaetz and Martha Saunders, a University of West Florida provost and vice president, were among eight candidates recommended to advance in the search for a new president for UWF.

A presidential search committee made the recommendations Wednesday, after interviewing 16 candidates at the university’s Pensacola campus over three days.

The committee is scheduled to meet again Tuesday to review the references of the eight candidates provided by a consulting firm and then recommend further on-campus interviews with at least three of the candidates.

The next round of interviews is set for Sept. 12 to Sept. 14. After those interviews, the search committee will recommend at least three candidates to be considered by the university’s Board of Trustees, which is scheduled to meet Sept. 15 to pick a president to succeed Judy Bense, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Gaetz, who lives in Niceville, has been a Republican member of the Florida Senate since 2006, serving as the chamber’s president from 2012 to 2014. Gaetz, who is term-limited this year, is also a former Okaloosa County school superintendent.

Saunders, the provost, is a former president of the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The other six presidential candidates include: James Applegate, executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education; Frank Ashley, senior vice president for The College Board; Ron Elsenbaumer, a senior adviser to the president for entrepreneurship and economic development at University of Texas at Arlington; Bahman Ghorashi, a provost and vice president for academic affairs at Tennessee Tech University; William “Mike” Sherman, vice president for innovation and economic development at The University of Akron; and Alan Utter, a professor and vice provost for research at Appalachian State University.

by The News Service of Florida

Comments

3 Responses to “Gaetz, Saunders Advance in UWF Presidential Search”

  1. Bill on September 1st, 2016 11:52 am

    Yay! Welcome to the Florida Panhandle a/k/a Gaetz, Florida. Gaetz will get the position. It’s been bought and paid for. QUID PRO QUO

  2. jj on September 1st, 2016 11:44 am

    Why bother having a search committee, interviews and press releases.

    It’s a scam and a farce. Shame on Collier Merill and Lewis Bear!! Shame, shame, shame.

    The least qualified is going to get that job! Gaetz klan still at it!

  3. Janey on September 1st, 2016 11:41 am

    OH MY GOODNESS! Just go ahead and give it to Gaetz. We all know he’s going
    to get it. His buddies on the board will make sure he is the new Prez. Maybe they should go ahead and change the name to Gaetz University. At this point nothing surprises me. I am so tired of hearing that name.