Regents can't spring a president on UH

We hope the University of Hawai‘i regents didn’t suppose they could improve the already ugly mood on the system’s campuses by announcing as a done deal this coming Monday morning the name of the person who will succeed Kenneth Mortimer as university president.

The university community was expecting to hear from several of the finalists for the job before the selection was made. That’s what happened when Mortimer was picked; that’s what faculty members and students were led to believe would happen this time.

Coming at a time when the state is resisting the faculty’s not unreasonable request for a wage increase — indeed, at a time when the governor is questioning their very work ethic — the idea of springing their new president upon them without even the pretense of collaboration adds insult to serious injury.

In such an atmosphere, if media speculation proves true that the pick will be the current president of a 2,200-student liberal arts college — smaller than UH-Hilo — the regents will find it difficult to explain how they expect him to accelerate the transformation of a statewide system with 10 campuses and 45,000 students into the high-tech engine for Hawai‘i’s economic renaissance.

But that person himself, speaking to faculty, students and the community as a finalist, might. The next university leader will succeed in part if he or she has the right chemistry with the campus community. That can only be determined if the two have a chance to get to meet each other.

Unless it is already too late, the regents must backtrack and present the finalists to the university community.

We understand, as do faculty members and students, that publicity and the selection process for university presidents don’t mix. This is clearly tricky business.

After all, it’s natural for an applicant who hasn’t decided to leave his or her present job to want privacy.

But if an applicant doesn’t want the Hawai‘i job badly enough to take a risk, perhaps he or she should remain where it’s comfortable.

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