5 finalists vying for SUU helm

Five finalists are vying to take the reins of Southern Utah University, including current Snow College President Michael Benson.

Benson is among the final candidates to become president of the four-year Cedar City school that has been under interim rule since former President Michael Bennion left the school in June to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Board of Regents hopes to have a decision by Friday after interviewing the final five, which were winnowed down from an initial pool of 67 candidates. All of the finalists but Benson are from out of state.

The five candidates are:

• Michael T. Benson, president of Snow College since 2001. Previously, he was the special assistant to the president of the University of Utah.

• Beverlee J. McClure, cabinet secretary of higher education for New Mexico since 2005. She also served as the president of Clovis Community College in New Mexico from 1999-2005.

• David E. Payne, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Sam Houston State University in Texas since 1997.

• Norval F. Pohl, president of the University of North Texas from 2000 until 2006.

• David L. Soltz, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Central Washington University since 2001.

"We're thrilled. We think every one of the candidates is very qualified and very enthusiastic about SUU and the positions down there," said David Doty, assistant commissioner of higher education for Utah. "It's great to see that we can attract the caliber of candidates that we did."

After several town hall-style meetings this summer, Doty said the selection team was faced with finding a presidential candidate that could meet the specific demands of SUU.

In addition, students did not want to see any radical change to the university's mission.

"People would like to see the university grow, but grow in a sensitive way so it doesn't become a huge campus," Doty said. "They'd like to see some expansion with their graduate programs, but we did not hear anybody say they want SUU to become the University of Utah."

Benson said he could not comment before the final selection process, but Doty said it's rare for the president of one university to vie for a spot at another state school.

"He has been very up-front with his board and his staff and community from the very early stages about his interest in the SUU presidency," Doty said.

If Benson is selected, the state system of higher education will be searching for a new president for Snow, a two-year college in Ephraim.

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