With the search for a new MU chancellor underway, members of the MU Faculty Council are working to make sure the decision is made with great care.

Faculty Council Chairman Harry W. Tyrer Jr. explained that the process is being implemented through two different channels.

“A couple of things are going to go on at the same time,” Tyrer said. “The process being used is begun by the UM System because the chancellor reports to the president.”

The UM System will use a search firm, which has been used before to hire other high-level faculty on MU’s campus.

Tyrer said the council believes it is important that members of the community have input in the selection process. To facilitate this, an MU-based search committee will be created.

“There will be a search committee formed consisting of faculty, students, staff, alumni, retirees and whoever the stakeholders are at the university,” Tyrer said.

The search committee will host town hall meetings for students and faculty to express what they would like to see in a new chancellor. Faculty Council will use this feedback, along with other criteria, to shape the search process.

According to councilman Craig Roberts, the new chancellor needs to be able to address the needs of all academic disciplines offered at MU.

“We need a chancellor who values the multifaceted strengths of MU … but who also continues to offer strong support to the core educational disciplines housed in the College of Arts and Sciences,” Roberts said.

Councilman Sudarshan Loyalka said the council hopes the new chancellor will work well with the faculty and staff, as well.

“We have already emphasized that the new chancellor must be a strong advocate of shared governance in both theory and practice,” Loyalka said.

The search process has just begun, but with Chancellor Brady Deaton officially retiring Nov. 15, Tyrer said the council hopes to complete its search as soon as possible. He said the council wants to announce its decision in early November.

Tyrer said the search committee members have had concerns about the short search schedule. But the UM system believes finding a new chancellor soon will give MU an edge.

“Several (Association of American Universities) schools are looking for high-level administrators,” Tyrer said. “The longer we take, the more difficult it is to get those high-quality people.”

The search committee will review credentials of all the applicants for the position and present its top three choices to Tim Wolfe. The UM president will then select his top choice for chancellorship based on interviews and evaluations.

The UM Board of Curators has to approve Wolfe’s choice before the new chancellor is announced, Loyalka said.

He said as long as the search starts out with strong candidates, things should go as planned.

“The initial focus must be on having a large pool of excellent candidates,” Loyalka said. “I believe everything else is secondary if the president remains committed to quality and works well with a broad based search committee.”