Reactions mixed to Mark Shurtleff as U. president

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff still isn't talking about his decision to seek the University of Utah presidency, but reaction was mixed Tuesday to his candidacy.

"It's way outside the box that higher ed usually considers for candidates. I'm glad he's applied. I hope they take his application seriously," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, the head of the Senate Education Committee.

Stephenson said Shurtleff cares more about results than image and could help shift what he has described as a focus on awarding "degrees to nowhere" at the state's flagship university that leave too many students in debt and without jobs.

"We need leadership that will change that," Stephenson said, calling for "a non-academic at the helm."

But others said Shurtleff's lack of a background in academia makes him an unlikely choice. 

"Certainly from a faculty perspective, I think it's very problematic," U. political science professor Matthew Burbank said. "He has some of the skills you would expect. He's been a public figure. He understands how to deal with the Legislature. He knows how to meet with various constituency groups."

Burbank said that's not likely to be seen as enough to run a campus. A university president, he said, also has to be seen as "the ultimate authority on campus," able to settle faculty and student issues, as well as sell the school's academic prowess to the private and public entities outside the state that award research grants.

U. dean of social and behavioral science Steve Ott served on the last presidential search committee that settled on Michael Young as a finalist. Young served seven years as the U.'s president before stepping down last May to be president of the University of Washington.

Ott said while anyone can apply for the president spot, the last search committee pretty much settled on final candidates who had experience in university administration. "When you look for a major Research One university president, what you're looking for is someone who has experience at the president's level at a lesser institution, or someone who possibly has been at a number-two level at a comparable institution," Ott said.

During the last search, Ott said even the semi-finalist list was totally made up of candidates who had served as leaders at other higher education institutions.

Ott said a president needs to have a wide variety of experience. They need to know how to deal with medical school issues and running a hospital, and know how to support research and be a charismatic fundraiser.