Contact: Jennifer Hollingshead
Office: (573) 882-0601
E-mail: hollingsheadj@umsystem.edu
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that a University of Missouri spokesman said the Board of Curators put the search for a new UM president "temporarily ... on hold" because of Saturday's Big 12 Championship football game. The AP story is incorrect.
No University spokesman made any statement that the presidential search is "on hold." The presidential search was never and is not "on hold," temporarily or otherwise. The University's external presidential search consultant and UM's vice president for human resources continue to work on the presidential search, and members of the Board of Curators are engaged in the search process as it continues.
For information and reference: As of Wednesday, the University has confirmed that just two of the nine members of the Board of Curators plan to attend Saturday's football game in San Antonio, Texas, and that two other Board members are considering attending the game. The other five members - a majority of the Board - have no plans to attend the game at this time.
Additionally, some news organizations have reported erroneously that the Board of Curators meeting scheduled for this week in Kansas City has been cancelled. As newsrooms were advised by the University on Monday, the format of this week's meeting has been revised to allow meeting participants to wrap up their business earlier than originally planned.
The Board's open committee meetings and general session will be conducted on Thursday beginning at 9 a.m., and the Board will reconvene for a closed session at 9 a.m. Friday, with plans to adjourn by noon Friday. This format change should allow the remaining meeting participants to depart Kansas City several hours earlier than originally planned on Friday.
For reference, the media original advisory is available on the UM System home page, at www.umsystem.edu, under Latest News.
Reviewed 2010-06-15