Faculty, staff and students got their chance Thursday to voice their views on the search process for a new UT System president at an open forum held from 11-12:30 p.m. in the Watkins Auditorium at UTM.

The forum, one of several being held across the state this month, featured search executive director Dr. Margaret Perry, chancellor-emeritus of UTM, and members of the search advisory council and search committee. Local Board of Trustees members Barbara Castleman and Jerry Jackson also were present. The purpose of the open forums was to seek input into the guiding principles and job description for the next UT president.

Dr. Daniel Pigg of the English Department reiterated that it was important that the next president not hold the office of chancellor at the UTK, a practice that had been in place for several years before Shumaker taking office.

"The president needs to be in frequent contact with the Board of Regents schools as well," Pigg added.

SGA President Jennifer Ogg told the panel that although Dr. Shumaker certainly failed the university, that one good thing was that he was "very visible here at UTM." President Shumaker made multiple trips to Martin during his term of office.

"It's time to move on. We've had some hard knocks, but it's time to move on now," said Dr. Nancy Warren, professor and chair of Nursing at UTM and a member of the search advisory council. "We're confident we can find a good president."

Warren, in a previous e-mail to the UTM campus community, offered the following comments on the search process:

-- The search is open and transparent -- the salary and compensation package will be decided in advance by the Board of Trustees and placed on the Web page.

--The nominations are open to the public.

--All candidates will be reviewed by the advisory council and then recommended to the search committee.

--The search committee will review candidates and make one or more recommendations to the Board of Trustees, which will then make an offer to the appropriate candidate.

--A search firm will be selected by the Board of Trustees at the Dec. 12 meeting, but will serve in a limited capacity. The search firm will be used primarily to find qualified candidates.

Warren also said that a tentative timeline includes: On Dec. 12, the search committee and Board of Trustees will approve search procedures and the president's position description; on Jan. 1, advertisements, solicitations, nominations and applications will be available; on Feb. 16, the search advisory council begins screening applications; on April 5, the search advisory council will meet to select six to 10 candidates to be interviewed; on April 13, interviews will be conducted by the search advisory council, the search committee and the Board of Trustees; on April 30, the Board of Trustees will select a new president; and on July 1, a new president will be named.

For those who have not yet read the guiding principles for the search, or the previous job specifications for the UT president position, both are available at this web site</A>. Minutes of the open forums are available on the search Web site, as well, which can also be accessed through a link at the bottom of the UTM home page</A>. A live Webcast of Thursday's forum was not available because of technical difficulties, but it is scheduled to be streamed and available, possibly by today, through the UT Office of Information Technology</A>.