Hall won't be leaving Utah State just yet

Utah State University will not have to search for another president.

USU President Kermit Hall, 59, came in second Wednesday out of three finalists for the top post at the University of Tennessee system. Hall's name was one of 47 originally submitted for the position.

"It's a real compliment to Utah and to our presidents that President Hall would be so well thought of by another top-notch research university," said Dave Buhler, Utah System of Higher Education associate commissioner of public affairs. "He's a great president and I'm sure that everyone will be glad he will be here a while longer."

University of Connecticut Provost and Executive Vice President John Peterson, 56, won the job. Peterson will lead the five-campus, 42,000-student system with a starting base salary of $380,000, according to the Associated Press. Hall is now paid $215,000 annually.

"It all comes down to the question of how well the person fits with the institution and with the trustees," Hall said in a telephone interview while still in Knoxville Wednesday. "I'm not disappointed — this has been strictly a business deal for me from the beginning."

Hall actually heard the news about the search first on a radio station. "So much for an open process," he joked.

But Tennessee officials, attempting to step from the shadows of two presidents leaving since 2001, were serious about turning this search into what Hall called the most open in this country's history.

The next items on Hall's agenda are to meet with USU alumni in Chicago and write a speech for USU's May 1 graduation ceremony. His ongoing commitment to USU, Hall added, should not be doubted because of the UT search.

Buhler agreed, saying the reality is that great presidents are a commodity in a competitive market. "Regents would probably be worried if no one was ever after their presidents," he said.

The University of Utah, of course, just lost former President Bernie Machen to the University of Florida. That was another very public search in which interviews with applicants could be seen live on the Internet. The search to replace Machen is expected to yield names of finalists this week.

Hall said the UT search is the only position he has been considering. The fact that he was a finalist came as a surprise because a consultant, not Hall, had submitted his name as a candidate. Hall figured he made it so far in the search because he was able to do so much at USU in such a short time.

Since Hall arrived in January 2001, USU has taken on nearly 100 new faculty. USU's student retention rate has gone from 61 percent to 75 percent. Fund-raising numbers are up after two years of decline and more than $200 million in public and privately funded buildings have gone up at USU during Hall's stay.

"I'm truly glad," Hall said, "to be going back to Utah State."

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com