By Josh Moon
Alabama Political Reporter
The search for Alabama State University’s next president has shifted into top gear.
For weeks, university officials have maintained that they were in no rush to name a new president, following the firing of former president Gwendolyn Boyd last December. In April, the board decided to move forward with the search. Last month, the search committee was still putting together requirements for potential candidates.
Then, on June 30, ASU posted the position of president in several publications, including the Journal of Higher Ed, asking for applications.
The cutoff date: July 13.
“I think they’ve found the person they want for the job,” a source close to the search committee said. “Two weeks for a national search says you’re not taking the national search very seriously.”
ASU officials are not backing away from the short turnaround for the posting.
Late Thursday evening, board chairwoman Alfreda Green, following questions from APR, issued a statement saying the time period was long enough.
“The length of time to request candidates to apply for the position of President of (ASU) was done with the full consensus of all of the members of the Search Committee, which includes members of the ASU Board of Trustees, as well as students, alumni, faculty, staff, community and business representatives who serve on the committee,” Green said. “The announcement for the position has been placed in a variety of sources, which includes some of the nation’s most respected educational publications.”
Green also said that if the initial application window doesn’t attract a substantial pool of qualified candidates, the committee could reopen the application process.
However, the favorite for the job has submitted his application.
Sources confirmed to APR that state Sen. Quinton Ross, an ASU grad and runner-up for the job when Boyd was hired, submitted his official application.
Ross declined to comment on the job when reached Thursday.
