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[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.]

With Senior Associate Director and Chief Nursing Officer Linda Everett leaving Iowa for the executive vice president position at Clarian Health in Indianapolis, University Hospitals has lost another top executives in the last six months. In August, then-chief operating officer Ann Madden Rice was named CEO of University of California-Davis Medical Center. In November, then-chief financial officer Anthony DeFurio was named the new vice president for finance and CFO at University of Colorado Hospitals.

Although some university observers say such turnover is par for the course, others suggest the university is running rudderless without a permanent president. Until a president is in place, many throughout the UI community will be left wondering: Who is next?

Open presidential searches

One person who might be leaving UI is Vice President for Research Meredith Hay. Earlier this week, the University of New Mexico announced Hay as one of five finalists for the university's presidency. Hay, who came to UI in June 2005 under then President David Skorton, has been involved in attracting businesses to UI for commercial and research partnerships to spur economic development. Her departure would demonstrate further how UI is proving to be an invaluable training ground for other schools.

We know about Hay's candidacy because the New Mexico state Board of Regents has an open search process that involved on-campus interviews. The result is about as far as possible from the top-secret nature of last year's failed Regent-led search for a UI president. The Iowa state Board of Regents could learn from New Mexico's example.