Atlanta — May 17, 2001

Board of Regents Chairman Glenn S. White announced today the formation of a 14-member statewide advisory committee to assist in the national search for a new chancellor for the University System of Georgia. The launch of the search process comes quickly on the heels of the announcement at last week’s Board of Regents meeting by current Chancellor Stephen R. Portch that he would step down after serving seven years in the educational leadership position.

The Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents for the Chancellor’s Search will be composed of three University System presidents, five community leaders, one USG administrator, three USG faculty members, and one USG student. The secretary to the Board of Regents will serve as an ex-officio member of the body. Chairman White has asked Dr. Hugh D. Hudson to serve as chair of the advisory committee. The committee will be responsible for assessing, screening and reviewing applications, and providing their feedback to the Board of Regents. The full Board of Regents, acting as a Committee of the Whole, will be responsible for the identification and interviewing of candidates and finalists for the post.

In addition to utilizing the Advisory Committee, the Board of Regents has engaged the services of an international executive search firm, A. T. Kearney, to identify high-caliber candidates for the post. The firm was credited with identifying Stephen Portch in the 1994 search for Georgia’s University System chancellor.

“This is one of the most critical tasks in which this board will ever have to engage,” said Chairman White. “We take this task extremely seriously, and want to move expeditiously to begin our national search process in an inclusive and comprehensive manner. Stephen Portch has significantly raised the standard of performance for this position, and we will conduct a rigorous search to ensure that the next chancellor will continue the momentum that has been achieved by him and this board over the past seven years.”

The 14 members of the Advisory Committee and the constituencies they represent include:

University System Presidents

Dr. Carl V. Patton of Georgia State University, in Atlanta; Dr. Carlton E. Brown of Savannah State University, in Savannah; and Dr. Barbara P. Losty of Waycross College, in Waycross.

Community Representatives

Troy Athon, of Greensboro, Ga., a former Georgia state legislator representing Rockdale and DeKalb counties; Lamar Cousins, of Marietta, a former member of the Board of Regents; Dwight Evans, vice president for external affairs with the Atlanta-based Southern Company and a former member of the Board of Regents; Jimmy Franklin, an attorney and president of the Georgia Southern University Foundation in Statesboro; and Ingrid Saunders-Jones, senior vice president of Corporate External Affairs with the Coca-Cola Company.

Student

Brian Beers, a Kennesaw State University student and chair of the statewide University System Student Advisory Council.

Faculty

Evelyn Dandy, professor of education and director of the Pathways Program at Armstrong Atlantic State University, in Savannah; Hugh D. Hudson, professor of history at Georgia State University and executive secretary of the Georgia Conference of the American Association of University Professors; and Marilyn Halaska, director of the Office of Instructional Technology and professor of nursing at Middle Georgia College, in Cochran.

Administrator

Karen Holbrook, provost for the University of Georgia, in Athens.

Ex-officio

Gail S. Weber, secretary to the Board of Regents.

White said the board hopes to have the chancellor’s post filled by this fall.

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