The discussion about the search for Florida A&M’s president Monday focused primarily on the process of selecting a firm to conduct a national search for the new president.
When the conference began, Stephanie Fall, procurement officer for FAMU, was asked to explain the evaluation scores from members of the evaluations committee. Fall said the board needed to consider the ranking when deciding how many firms should be invited to negotiate and make presentations. There were a total of six responses to the invitation.
Evaluations showed four firms were closely tied. Trustee Marjorie Turnbull said she understands the top three are closely ranked, but is troubled with the fourth firm being ranked so close to the third.
Turnbull then suggested they interview the four firms and ask them questions and then decide which they should negotiate with.
Trustee Karl White said he agrees with Turnbull and is in favor of all four firms. Trustee Belinda Shannon also agreed.
One agreement was the need for the committee to develop common questions to ask the firms.
All agreed that national recruitment, public records laws and the number of candidates brought forward should be included. Of particular importance is the experience each firm has with HBCUs and compatibility with the entire board
The four firms will be interviewed Oct. 19, after which a selection will be made for review by the board.