University of Colorado interim president Hank Brown says he will take the job permanently if asked, and regents say they are thrilled with his performance.
While it may seem like a done deal, a $300,000 search for the next president is just beginning, and Brown will have to hold up against a national pool of contenders.
Brown, quickly hired after Betsy Hoffman resigned last spring, shrugged and said, “Sure,” when asked this week if he would take the job permanently.
“It’s a question of ‘Will you marry me if I ask you?’ sort of thing,” he said Tuesday. “If I can be of help, I will.”
Since taking the top CU job in August, Brown, 65, has consistently said the regents would want someone younger for the long term, although he never ruled himself out.
Regents credit the former congressman with cleaning up CU’s image in his first three months on the job, lending a “calming effect” after the scandal involving the football program and the publicity surrounding controversial professor Ward Churchill.
They say Brown has emerged as a higher-education leader in Colorado, especially as he takes unpaid time off to stump for Referendum C. The budget measure on the Nov. 1 ballot would stave off millions of dollars in budget cuts to colleges in Colorado, higher education officials say.
“Would I like to see him as the permanent president? You bet I would,” CU regent Pete Steinhauer said. “I think he’s done an outstanding job.”
Regent Gail Schwartz praised Brown’s “tremendous credentials and a lot of enthusiasm during a difficult time.”
A dozen CU administrators, faculty, staff and a student will evaluate the job applicants and forward no more than three names to regents.
Brown is not guaranteed a finalist spot. One of the regents or a member of the search committee must nominate Brown to the applicant pool, or he can formally apply himself.
The committee has created a job description and is looking for an outside firm to help with the search, said regent Steve Bosley, committee chairman. The committee will start accepting applications within a couple of months. Regents don’t have a target date to hire the next president.
Bosley called Brown a “known quantity” who has done “a superb job.”
“He jumped right in,” Bosley said. “This isn’t an interim president. This is a transitional president.”
Regent Tom Lucero said he would be happy to nominate Brown for the permanent job. He credited him with smoothing over relations with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, which were strained during last year’s budget process that pitted the governor against Hoffman over a tuition increase.
“He’s certainly exceeding any expectations that I had,” Lucero said.
As popular as Brown is among the regents, they are committed to a national search.
“The search needs to be genuine and thorough,” Michael Carrigan said. “Given that president Brown was brought in on a rapid basis, at this time it’s important that if he’s selected to be our long-term president, that he have the full support of the faculty, students and the staff.”
Regents suspect they would get criticized regardless of whether they held a national search.
Brown’s supporters will question why regents authorized a national search if they already had the best person for the job, Steinhauer said. But if such a search wasn’t conducted, others would complain that there wasn’t enough input from faculty, staff or alumni, he said.
“You’re not going to win on this one,” Steinhauer said.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
