• Florida Gulf Coast University is delaying its selection of a president-elect by two weeks due to logistical issues with the state Board of Governors 
• The logistical issue originated from the short turnaround period between FGCU’s selection and the planned Board of Governors meeting on Nov. 9th
• The university intended to choose a final candidate to assume the role of university president today, but after staging final interviews with the three finalists it decided to hold off on making a decision
• The Board of Governors has a scheduled meeting in January that could potentially serve as an opportunity for confirmation

The Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) Board of Trustees (BoT) on Wednesday elected to delay its selection of a president-elect for two weeks to better accommodate the schedule of the state Board of Governors.

FGCU originally intended to choose a final candidate to assume the role of university president today, but after staging final interviews with the three finalists the BoT decided to hold off on making a decision.

The Board of Governors, who ratify the university’s recommended president-elect, are scheduled to meet on Nov. 9th and 10th, resulting in what would be an anomalously short period of preparation to be able to confirm a president.

“I just had a conversation with the Chair of the Board of Governors, and despite their willingness to be very accommodating of us because of the storm, it is very atypical of a decision like this to come forward with only a few days before a Board of Governors meeting,” said FGCU BoT Chairman Blake Gable.

To avoid timing and logistical issues, the BoT voted to hold a special meeting two weeks from now where they can officially make a selection on who to present to the Board of Governors.

“I think we would be better served as an institution for a brief period of time. We can come back in two weeks’ time, plus or minus, we will then have public comment as well as a report from AGB, but I think it makes more sense to have all that together on the same time frame,” continued Gable.

Trustee Grace Brannigan questioned the efficacy of the delay, seeking clarification as to when confirmation of the president-elect would take place, to which Gable stated he will need to work with the Board of Governors to figure out the logistics. The Board of Governors has a scheduled meeting in January that could potentially serve as an opportunity for confirmation.

Following a nationwide search, the three final candidates are Robert G. Gregerson, President of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, 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.

“FGCU received an outstanding response to our call for applicants, and our finalists represent the top and emerging leaders in the field of higher education,” said Edward Morton, the chair of FGCU’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee and a member of FGCU’s Board of Trustees.

Since the Presidential search was publicly launched in June, the school claims that interest among candidates was high, accruing between 20 and 30 potential successors to the outgoing Mike Martin.