Wanted: A president to lead a 10-campus, multi-island public institution of higher learning. Must work well with others.

With popular interim President David McClain out of the running, the University of Hawai'i must ramp up its efforts if it hopes to have a permanent replacement on board by the beginning of the next school year.

Board of Regents vice chairman Alvin Tanaka said the presidential search task force will meet Friday morning to discuss search firms and qualities they want to see in a candidate. But some familiar with the situation have ideas of the kind of person they would like to see lead the billion-dollar institution.

Rep. Tommy Waters, who leads the state House higher education committee, agrees that a nationwide search should be conducted, but hopes the list of candidates will include talented administrators at the university.

"We have a lot of good guys, qualified guys who would make good presidents as well," he said.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano said the search committee should look outside of Hawai'i.

"I don't think it should be someone local, frankly, because the changes will be very difficult for a local person to make because this place is too small," he said.

Cayetano said that not only should the new president come from the outside, he or she also should be someone with the skill to deal with different factions in the community.

Whoever takes the post will face many challenges: implementing a steep tuition increase, overseeing major expansion projects on several islands, dealing with aging buildings and monitoring the progress of the new medical complex in Kaka'ako.

Sen. Clayton Hee, chairman of the Senate higher education committee, said that whatever else the president does, he or she will have to be able to work with all the stakeholders in the university, including the 76 legislators, the governor, the Board of Regents and the faculty and students.

That is one area where ousted President Evan Dobelle failed.

While Dobelle came in with the big ideas and fresh vision expected of a leader, he lacked the skill to deal with the faculty and get them to accept the changes necessary to move the university forward, Cayetano said.

"I think he wanted to move very quickly and probably didn't establish the necessary relationships first," Cayetano said.

While working with the university stakeholders, the new president also will have to make hard decisions on what he or she feels are the priorities. With all the requests coming from the various constituencies, the president also will have to risk making unpopular decisions.

"Sometimes it requires that the answer be 'no' or 'not at this time,' " Hee said.

Among some of the pressing issues raised, Hee said he would like to see the president raise the prestige of the university's undergraduate offerings.

"The undergraduate school should be a school people would look to with pride, and they need to ramp it up," he said.

To Waters, the rising tuition costs will require community colleges to step up and become places people can turn to if they cannot afford tuition at the four-year campuses.

Repair and maintenance will also be a pressing issue, he said, pointing to Manoa's life sciences building as an example. "These are the scientists of the future and their building is all busted up," he said.

Cayetano believes that the university needs to attract more stellar faculty members and find a way to deal with tenured professors who he said are coasting along and biding time until retirement.

These days, the former governor thinks the university has fewer world-class faculty members than in the past, a problem considering the impact the university has on the economy.

"The university is supposed to be the intellectual heart of the economy and I'm not sure that it is," he said.

Although some feel that McClain has not had enough time in office for them to truly measure his effectiveness as a leader, most agree that he has done a good job.

Others feel more strongly and hold out hope that McClain will reconsider and stay on for a few more years.

Said U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye: "I hope that the Board of Regents will convince President McClain that the university at this moment needs his continued leadership. I look forward to calling him President McClain for a few more years."

Raymond Cotton, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney considered the foremost national specialist in contracts for university presidents, said the regents cannot afford to wait to begin the search.

While he can't fault the board for wanting McClain to stay on, "I wouldn't spend time trying to twist McClain's arm," he said. "I'd get down to business there."

Cotton said it's rare for a president to rise from the university ranks.

While the university needs to find someone that can not only understand the culture, but prosper personally and professionally in Hawai'i, that does not necessarily mean it has to be someone who has roots here, or has even spent a significant amount of time in the state.

"Let's open it to the entire country and let the best person prevail, roots or no roots," Cotton said.

Universities tend to look for the same things in a president, Cotton said, such as the ability to raise money by attracting grants, contracts and private donations; good management skills; and credibility with the faculty.

In addition, UH also needs someone who is a good cultural fit.

Cotton does not think Dobelle's experience will dissuade others from applying for the job.

"When others look at what happened with him, they'll say, 'Gee, I wouldn't make that mistake or that series of mistakes,' " he said.

That there has been a buffer with an interim president helps, especially since McClain has had a good working relationship with the board.

Finding a president that meets the high expectations of the stakeholders will likely come with a high price tag.

Many were shocked when Dobelle was hired at a $442,000 annual salary, significantly more than his predecessor, Kenneth Mortimer, whose salary was $167,184.

But high salaries are now the norm. "Presidential salaries are galloping ahead," Cotton said.

Universities looking for the ideal presidents must be willing to pay to recruit and retain them, Cotton said.

"People who can do these jobs well are few and far between," he said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.