• Florida Gulf Coast University announced that it added two new Presidential Search Committee members in replacement of a pair of departing contributors 
• Director of FGCU’s Lucas Institute for Real Estate Development & Finance Shelton Weeks and Board of Trustee member Joseph G. Fogg will replace Arie van Duijn and Ashley Coone
• The university effectively restarted its search for a new president after all three named finalists withdrew from consideration 
• Outgoing president Mike Martin committed to extending his time with FGCU until a successor is found

Florida Gulf Coast University announced on Tuesday that it added two members of university staff and affiliation to its Presidential Search Committee amid the fallout of a restarted candidate search.

Director of FGCU’s Lucas Institute for Real Estate Development & Finance Shelton Weeks and Board of Trustee member Joseph G. Fogg will replace Arie van Duijn and Ashley Coone. The university stated that Van Duijn and Coone elected not to participate in the second iteration of the candidate search.

The departures could be the first of several, as Board of Trustees Chairman Blake Gable told the Board of Trustees that he holds reservations as to whether the makeup of the search committee will remain the same as the initial search.

“I don’t know if those on the search committee will want to remain for a second search,” said Gable.

The FGCU Board of Trustees decided to reopen its presidential candidate search on Nov. 17th after two of the three named finalists — Tod A. Laursen, Acting President of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and Susana V. Rivera-Mills, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Ball State University — withdrew from consideration in early November.

Consequentially, the lone remaining finalist in FGCU’s search, Robert G. Gregerson, withdrew from consideration, leaving the university back at square one.

Gable stated during the Nov. 17th meeting that the university seeks to explore “as wide a pool of candidates as possible,” effectively restarting the process.

In the meantime, outgoing President Mike Martin stated that he would prolong his service to the school until a successor is adequately chosen.

The Search Committee is scheduled to meet on Friday. The Committee’s agenda outlines a plan to discuss the notion of inviting new executive search firms to assist in the search process.

For the first candidate search, FGCU contracted The Segal Group, which facilitated studies to determine compensatory proposals for considered candidates.

When the school publicly launched its search in June it claimed that interest among candidates was high, garnering between 20 and 30 potential successors to Martin. It is currently unclear whether FGCU will circle back to some of the candidates originally considered that did not make the list of finalists, or if an entirely new slate of individuals will be brought in.