Both the U.S. and UTD are run by presidents, but the culture around selecting each could not be more different. America prides itself as a nation built on representative government, and every four years, Americans are encouraged to vote in the American presidential election, with midterm, state and local elections occurring in between. This is a stark contrast to the current selection process for UTD’s president, which only allows a singular student out of the entire student body population to be part of this process. The decisions made by UTD’s president affect tens of thousands of stakeholders, including students, faculty and staff. Because of the importance of this position, students should be able to provide more input in the university president’s selection.
According to the UT System, the current university president selection process includes creating the Presidential Search Advisory Committee. This committee is responsible for recommending candidates to the UT System Board of Regents and includes a UT System regent, two UT System presidents and the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic or Health Affairs. Committee members include a nonfaculty employee, two external representatives and six members from the institution that is looking for the new president: three faculty members, a student member, a dean and the alumni association president. The committee then creates selection criteria, analyzes candidates, conducts interviews and recommends up to ten candidates to the Board of Regents, who will handle the rest of the selection process. This advisory committee is closed off from the public, so no one else is involved in any step of selecting a new university president. Such an important position that affects everyone should not be relegated to a few people; it is against democratic principles.
While not every position in democratic countries and institutions is elected, a role as significant as the university president requires more input from affected students and faculty than one student out of 30,000. Student input in selecting a university president can help promote democratic participation by getting people active and involved in university affairs. In the same way federal officials impact people at a national scale, university officials directly impact students at the university. Students can understand that university officials make key decisions about university policy and guidelines, and work to elect someone whose policy goals they agree with.
There are multiple ways to provide more student input in this process. Student referendums operate in a similar format to elections, where students cast votes on issues presented on a ballot. These referendums are already an ongoing affair for proposed fee increases by the university and could be used to gauge student opinions on university president candidates as well. Another method would be utilizing an elected body to be involved in the selection process, which could be the Student Government or a separate body elected by students. These options provide more voting power to students and give them an opportunity to participate in a major event that will influence the future of UTD.
These proposed changes may seem novel, and reforming this process could create confusion or uncertainty for universities. However, the benefits of selecting a university president through more democratic means are significant for student experience and college life. The university president holds significant power and influence, and this power needs to be given to someone who is supported by the community they preside over. Students are one of the biggest stakeholders impacted by a new university president, and they should be empowered to make their voices heard.