December 17, 2018
Statement about the Presidential Search
from Faculty in the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass
Communication
In the last search for a new president, Kent State University conducted the process
almost entirely in secret. The search was coordinated by a private search firm and
no candidate names were revealed before a hiring decision was made. Search
Committee members reported they were told to turn in notes they had taken to be
destroyed. No public interviews or opportunities for students, faculty, staff or the
public to interact with or consider the candidates were permitted. Despite spending
hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on the search, the first the university
community learned of any candidate for the job was when the Board of Trustees
announced President Beverly Warren had been hired. Through no fault of her own,
Warren started as president under a cloud of suspicion because of the secrecy
surrounding her hiring.
Kent State University’s administrative policy states, “It is the policy of Kent State
University that openness leads to a better informed citizenry, which leads to better
government and better public policy. It is the policy of Kent State University to
adhere to the state's Public Records Act, also called Sunshine Laws. … All records of
Kent State University are public unless they are specifically exempt from disclosure
under the Ohio Revised Code or federal law.” Kent State University Policy Register 515.1.
The Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication is
committed to instilling in our students a strong appreciation for open government
and the right of the press and the public to engage in effective oversight of
government agencies. Members of the School’s faculty believe that the University’s
actions in conducting the last presidential search were in contradiction to the
expressed values of the University, the principles our School teaches and the
requirements of the Ohio Public Records Act. As Ohio Attorney General and
Governor-elect Mike DeWine writes in the 2018 Ohio Sunshine Laws, An Open
Government Resource Manual, “a public office’s obligation to turn over application
materials and resumes extends to records of private search firms the public office
used in the hiring process.” Institutions err and plunge themselves into crises when
they do not thoroughly vet candidates, and thorough vetting includes public review
and assessment.
Thus we, the undersigned members of the School of Journalism and Mass
Communication faculty, write to urge that the members of the Board of Trustees and
the Presidential Search Committee publicly commit to two things:
1) A transparent search process that, at a minimum, allows for pre-hiring public
assessment of and document release for a minimum of three finalists or, if
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
PO Box 5190  Kent, Ohio 44242-0001  Main Office: 330-672-2572  Fax 330-672-4064  www.kent.edu/jmc

 there are fewer than three finalists, for any candidates who participate in
face-to-face interviews (online or in person) with the Search Committee.
2) Meeting their obligations under the Ohio Public Records Act, including the
retention of records of the search, whether held by the University, the Search
Committee or any search firm the University hires to assist in the process. If
there is any disagreement about the obligations under the law, we ask the
University to request an official opinion from the Ohio Attorney General’s
office.
We ask the Board of Trustees and the Search Committee to make and publicly state
these commitments immediately before the search process progresses.

This statement has been joined by the following JMC faculty members:
Candace Perkins Bowen, Professor
Fred F. Endres, Professor Emeritus
Mark Goodman, Professor
Karl Idsvoog, Associate Professor
Jan Leach, , Associate Professor
Jacqueline Marino, Associate Professor
Mitch McKenney, Associate Professor
Gordon J. Murray, Associate Professor
Ann Schierhorn, Professor Emerita
Carl Schierhorn, Professor Emeritus
William E. Sledzik, Professor Emeritus
Stephanie Smith, Assistant Professor
Timothy D. Smith, Professor Emeritus
Barbara Hipsman Springer, Professor Emerita

For more information contact:
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
PO Box 5190  Kent, Ohio 44242-0001  Main Office: 330-672-2572  Fax 330-672-4064  www.kent.edu/jmc

 Mark Goodman
330-672-6239
Mgoodm10@kent.edu

School of Journalism and Mass Communication
PO Box 5190  Kent, Ohio 44242-0001  Main Office: 330-672-2572  Fax 330-672-4064  www.kent.edu/jmc