Despite reports that she is one of two finalists for the Univ. of Hawaii presidency, College Provost Susan Prager says a move to the Aloha state is not in her future.
Prager -- who announced her resignation as Dartmouth's chief academic officer in mid-January --said that she is not considering taking the job in Hawaii when she leaves the College in July.
"It's always flattering to be considered, but I'm not a candidate," Prager told The Dartmouth.
However, she declined to elaborate further on the subject, including whether she had applied or been interviewed for the position.
Honolulu television station KHON reported Monday that the Univ. of Hawaii Board of Regents is choosing between Prager and Evan Dobelle, the current president of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
While university spokesperson Jim Manke would not confirm or deny the KHON report, he noted that the Board of Regents did announce earlier this month that the group had narrowed the field down to five candidates and intended to complete the selection process by early April.
The board has been conducting a confidential nationwide search for a new president since its current president, Kenneth Mortimer, announced last spring that he would be leaving in June.
Manke said little information is being released about the ongoing search at the request of the candidates.
"You can understand, for example, that a person in a high position who is applying for a job may or may not want their current employer to know what is going on," he said. "If they didn't get the job, that might diminish ... their status."
Whoever the next president of Hawaii's ten campus system ends up being, he or she will assume the position at a time when the university is in crisis.
The threat of a strike by the faculty, who have been working without a contract since July 1999 is a looming problem for the university administration.
A strike authorization vote organized by the faculty's collective bargaining organization is scheduled for later this month, and there is talk of a strike taking place on April 2, the first scheduled day of classes after students return from spring break.
