They are only Pretending to Search

Except for the first sentence, this is a good article about the search committee for the new Provost. From the article:

Peter Panousis, the dean of the College of Sciences, was chosen to be the chair for the search committee.

He said President John Hitt was the primary person who appointed the committee.

“President Hitt chose people who were known to be positive supporters of the university and could make a very critical analysis of the skills of those we will interview,” Panousis said.

The search committee is made up of 32 members, including the chair, and includes four sections.

Transaltion: Hitt is obsessed with loyalty and picked only those he perceives as being loyal.

Here’s the thing: search committees are Kabuki Theater. Hitt knows or will know who he wants to hire.* This will be signaled to the search committee who will then make sure to recommend his candidate. That UCF is paying money to an outside consulting firm to help with the search shows a total disregard for money.

* Here’s a good rule of thumb for UCF applicants. If you don’t know before you apply for a job with UCF that you are going to get the job, then you probably won’t be getting the job. This is almost always true for USPS and A&P positions and usually true for faculty or administrative faculty (e.g., department chair) hires.