Update: USM's Kirwan says U-Md. search on track

William "Brit" Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, told me this afternoon that the presidential search at the flagship College Park campus is still on track.

He responded to an article in the Diamondback student newspaper that said the search committee might not find a replacement for departing President C.D. "Dan" Mote by his Aug. 31 retirement.

Kirwan said the committee, empaneled shortly after Mote's February announcement, plans to finish its work by his departure. But Mote's replacement might not be available for work the following Monday. So, an interim chief may have to fill the gap.

"it's a perfectly normal occurrence if it does happen," Kirwan said. "We have no reason to think at this moment that it will happen. Dan is definitely leaving on the 31st. Our expectation is that we will name a new president before he departs. And the question is, Could there be a few weeks or months between when we name a new president and when he or she arrives? There could be."

Kirwan noted that the committee didn't get started on its search until spring. Finding a university president in four months is a tall order.

If an interim president is appointed, Kirwan said, it will be for "a relatively brief period of time."

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