The University of Nebraska spent more than $122,000 during a months-long search for a new chancellor at its Omaha campus before that effort stalled and an interim leader was named in April.
The UNO search was the fourth search for a top administrator conducted by NU in the last five years, but the first under a new law granting the university broad exemptions from the state’s public records laws requiring that the identities of four finalists be made public.
In 2016, Gov. Pete Ricketts signed into a law a bill introduced by Sen. John Murante of Gretna on behalf of the NU Board of Regents that allows the university to name a single “priority candidate†during searches for the system president and four campus chancellors.
NU leaders, including President Hank Bounds, applauded the measure, saying it was a necessary step to keep a competitive edge against institutions in other states that conduct their university administrator searches in secrecy.
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“The way we’re doing the search now better reflects how presidential searches and chancellor searches are done around the country,†Bounds said in an interview last October.
Despite the new level of secrecy, no priority candidate emerged during the UNO search, which Bounds attributed to a competitive market for top leaders in higher education, as well as a challenging fiscal environment for the state's only public university system.
Dr. Jeff Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center since 2014, was appointed to serve in a dual role as interim chancellor of UNO, where he replaces retiring Chancellor John Christensen.
Gold will lead both Omaha institutions for an undetermined length of time, after which NU could launch a second search for a UNO chancellor.
In addition to protecting the names of candidates, the new public records exemptions also put the activities conducted during the search behind a veil of secrecy.
NU had previously responded to public records requests for documents related to the search by turning over reimbursement forms submitted by candidates for travel, lodging and food, as well as internal invoices detailing events hosted on campus.
Those records gave a broad view of how the search took place outside of the public forums hosted for each candidate, often providing insight into who candidates were meeting with in closed meetings during their whirlwind formal interview and campus tour.
Under the new law, however, the expenses paid by the university throughout the search are more nebulous, and reveal little about the activities of those conducting the search or the candidates recruited.
All but $1,747 of the $122,788 total cost paid by NU to conduct the search was billed by Parker Executive Search, instead of directly from the candidates, as has occurred in prior searches.
For example, Parker submitted a $15,236 invoice to NU on April 15 for candidate and interview expenses, while a $445 invoice dated June 15 also lists candidate expenses in the description field, but nothing else.
Parker was contracted to aid the search for $95,000, plus the reimbursement of related costs.
The only document that sheds some light on closed-door search activities is an internal invoice from UNO.
On it, catered breakfasts and lunches on April 4 and 5 — as well as the cost of cleaning table linens — are listed, although the invoice for $1,405 doesn’t indicate if those events were for chancellor finalists or the search committee.
Jack Gould of Common Cause Nebraska said more-restrictive public records laws leave taxpayers in the dark in understanding the university’s stalled search.
Gould noted that the university can now grant more secrecy to its top leaders than state senators and other Nebraska politicians, who are required to report campaign contributions and expenses.
“If you were dealing with other public entities, you’d be able to get the information about where they went and what they did,†Gould said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s not good for a public institution to have secrets about candidates and money.â€
Since 2012, the university has spent more than $825,000 conducting searches for its top five leaders.
* The 2012-13 search that led to Gold being named UNMC chancellor cost $253,000.
* NU spent $260,000 in the 2014-15 president search that led to the hiring of Bounds.
* A search last year that ended in Ronnie Green being named UNL’s 20th chancellor cost $188,000.
Those activities are paid from the university’s general fund comprised of state tax dollars and tuition revenue.