UH tops $500,000 in search for leaders

Some question the prudence of using the money for firms to fill top-level jobs

Since last July the University of Hawaii spent or is spending more than $500,000 on executive-search firms to fill seven top-level jobs.

The most expensive search is for a new dean for the UH medical school -- a $118,510 contract to the Los Angeles firm of Korn/Ferry International.

The high cost of executive searches Since last July the University of Hawaii has hired executive-search firms to help fill seven high-level vacancies. The cost was $516,545. Search firms were hired for the following positions: UH-MANOA Chancellor: $103,550 (Isaacson, Miller) Dean, John A. Burns School of Medicine: $118,510 (Korn/Ferry International) Dean, College of Engineering: $65,835 (Isaacson, Miller) Dean, School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology: $60,672 (Isaacson, Miller) Vice chancellor for students: $51,300 (Isaacson, Miller) Dean, School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene: $44,000 (DHR International) UH SYSTEM Vice president for academic affairs: $72,678 (MacNaughton and Associates)

The Board of Regents approved the Korn/Ferry contract and a contract with Boston-based Isaacson, Miller for $103,550 at its meeting this month to help find the UH-Manoa chancellor.

The contracts do not include other costs such as air fare and hotel for prospective candidates.

Because both contracts were more than $100,000, they needed to go to the board for approval. Other search contracts are awarded at the discretion of the search committees with the approval of the UH president or campus chancellors.

Not all positions involve the hiring of an expensive search firm -- the most high-profile exception being the board's decision to skip a search for the UH system president and offer a contract to David McClain.

Regents Chairwoman Kitty Lagareta said conducting a national search for the UH president would have cost more than $150,000.

The university also did not use a search firm to find Chief Financial Officer Howard Todo and General Counsel Darolyn Lendio.

Jim Tiles, chairman of the UH-Manoa Faculty Senate, questioned the value of expensive executive searches.

"I think it's well known that our classrooms are in dreadful disrepair. There's a lot of things we need to spend money on, and we're not certain that the very large sums of money spent on searches are always justified," said Tiles.

He emphasized that he was speaking as an individual since the senate has not taken a position on executive searches. And Tiles acknowledged there is criticism when the university does not hire a search firm.

Carolyn Tanaka, University of Hawaii vice president for external relations, said decisions to hire a search firm are made on a "case-by-case basis."

UH-Manoa Associate Vice Chancellor Joanne Clark said search firms are worth the money. The quality of candidates that come in with a search firm "far exceeds advertising on our own," Clark said.

"Search firms are able to contact candidates who are not actively seeking jobs and who might be a perfect match for your school," Clark said.

The fee the university will pay is about one-third of the median salary for positions at similar-size public universities, Clark said. At Manoa, the chancellor or vice chancellor decide whether to hire a search firm after talking with staff and faculty and looking at how competitive the situation is -- how many other schools are looking for the same position.

A search committee will review the credentials of firms submitting bids and makes the final selection.

McClain has made it a priority to reduce the number of "interim" positions in the UH system, Tanaka said.

In an e-mail, Tanaka noted, "It is getting increasingly competitive to hire first-rate talent for high-level administrative positions. Couple that with Hawaii's high cost of living and it can be a real challenge for us."

Grant Teichman, student government president at UH-Manoa, said the university needs to weigh the cost of searches versus how the money might be spent to benefit students, especially since the university is more than doubling tuition in the next few years.

"It's a fine line," Teichman said. "We're spending a lot of money on search firms."

In an e-mail, Teichman said spending that much money on finding top executives increases expectations that new administrators will solve some of the long-standing problems at the university.

But history has shown recommendations by high-priced search firms are not a guarantee of success.

The university used search firms to hire former President Evan Dobelle and former UH Chancellor Peter Englert.

Dobelle's search was conducted by Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. at a cost of $147,333, Tanaka said. Korn/Ferry conducted the search for Englert at a cost of $50,000.

Englert's contract was not renewed, and Dobelle was terminated by the board after a tumultuous tenure three years into his contract.

The firm that the university most often uses is Isaacson, Miller. Besides its current $103,550 contract to find a new chancellor for UH-Manoa, the firm has helped find five new deans and the new vice chancellor for students.

Three of those searches -- contracts worth $177,807 -- were completed in the last fiscal year. Two other searches, for the dean of the School of Social Work and the dean of the College of Business Administration, were completed in 2004 and cost $106,000.

The amount of money the university is spending on searches has also been increasing each fiscal year since 2004 when the university spent $166,000 on three searches. Last year's searches for five top positions cost $294,485.

David Bellshaw of Isaacson, Miller said one of the reasons the firm had success in Hawaii is that it understands "the nuance of what it means to run a university in Hawaii."

Bellshaw said a leader who comes to UH has to understand the state's diversity and island culture. "It also helps that we've done other searches (for UH-Manoa)," he said.

This fiscal year, which began July 1, has seen two top-level searches for the UH Manoa chancellor and medical school dean. Search firms will also be hired to find the new dean for the College of Education and the School of Architecture, Clark said.