The Mississippi State University Faculty Senate passed a resolution Tuesday calling for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board Search Committee to identify presidential finalists for the top job at MSU. The resolution passed 35 to 1, with no abstentions.
The resolution also calls on the Board Search Committee to bring all final candidates onto campus for public interviews with university groups.
“The IHL has conducted a search process for the president of MSU that was designated to be entirely confidential . The process has failed to maintain secrecy,” the resolution states. “This lack of secrecy has allowed attempts to unduly influence the process outside the original intent . The failure of the process is counter to the welfare of MSU, its friends, alumni, students, faculty and staff. ”
The resolution states an open and transparent search would generate more confidence in the presidential selection process.
Faculty Senate office secretary Delores Hudson said Faculty Senate President David Nagel is in Hattiesburg today to attempt to deliver the resolution to the board. It is not yet known if the board received the resolution.
Phone calls to Hart Bailey, Faculty Senate vice president, were unreturned at the time of publication.