With President William R. Greiner's resignation less than two weeks old, the university is beginning the process for a nationwide search for the university's 14th president.
According to Provost Elizabeth Capaldi, the selection process will be fairly complicated and rigorous.
"I'm sure it will be very competitive, this is an excellent, excellent institution," Capaldi said.
Though she said many people have approached her regarding her interest in the position, Capaldi said it is premature and only time will tell if she will be among the candidates.
"But I also would be not a straightforward, honest person if I didn't say of course I would be honored," she said.
"It's a terrific institution, and Buffalo is poised to really move forward," Capaldi added. "People asked me - and a number of people asked me - but it's not going to be up to me."
Although the SUNY Board of Trustees makes the final decision on who will serve as UB's next president, the board takes no active role in choosing candidates. UB's University Council begins the selection process by appointing a search committee to seek out and evaluate potential candidates.
Jennifer Tuttle, this year's University Council student representative, said a meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11 in which selecting members of a search committee will be discussed.
According to SUNY guidelines, the University Council chairperson generally serves as chair of the search committee. The rest of the committee consists of six full-time members of the teaching faculty, four members of the University Council, one UB student, one UB alumni representative, one campus-related foundation representative, one academic dean and one professional or support staff member.
The committee chairperson will select all positions from campus and community groups, except for the full-time teaching faculty representatives who will be elected by the Faculty Senate.
Finally, SUNY guidelines state that a "nationally recognized organization with established expertise in academic recruitment" will be selected by the University Council to aid the search committee during the process.
The position of UB president will be nationally advertised, and the search committee will narrow the applicants to a pool of 12 candidates. Private interviews will be conducted with the 12 remaining applicants, whose identities will remain confidential until the search committee narrows the field to five.
Capaldi said the system of narrowing the fields of applicants both ensures the best candidates and nullifies speculation that she will be among them.
"I might not even be in the first cut," Capaldi said with a smile. "I never count on anything. I never worry about a job until someone offers it to me."
The identities and qualifications of the final five candidates for UB president will be made public. The candidates will make public visits to the UB campus in an effort to "allow a large number of campus and community members to meet and hear from each candidate," state SUNY guidelines.
Following the campus visits, extensive interviews and reference checks, the search committee will make their recommendations to the University Council. The University Council will submit a final list of no less than three candidates to the Board of Trustees, which will then select the next president of UB.
According to Greiner, no interim president will fill his seat after he steps down June 30. SUNY guidelines mandate that any person appointed interim president of UB is automatically disqualified from consideration.
"I think people do need to understand how it's going to work," Capaldi said. "It's going to be lots of time for people to have input to the search committee to make nominations."
