UL begins search for new president

APPLICATIONS have been sought for the office of president at University of Limerick to replace Professor Roger Downer.

The Belfast native was at the helm for eight years before retiring last April due to ill health.

A firm of leading international consultants has been engaged by UL’s governing authority to carry out the recruitment process, which has begun with the advertisement of the post.

Heidrick & Struggles has placed the ad in Irish newspapers, The Times and The Economist in Britain, and in the United States.

Although the job is being advertised internationally, candidates are expected to have an understanding of the Irish higher education system and a vision of UL in its wider global context.

“They will be of exceptional intellectual calibre and be accomplished senior academic leaders with extensive knowledge and experience in the management of a complex organisation,” the ad reads.

The salary is not mentioned and is understood to be still under consideration by university governors.

The closing date for applications is October 10, a day after the deadline for candidates for the presidency of University College Cork.

Prof Gerry Wrixon announced in May that he plans to retire next January — two years before completing his 10-year term — to allow his successor begin work with a new governing body being elected early next year. A Surrey-based recruitment firm advertised the position internationally on behalf of UCC last week, with an emphasis on the desire for candidates with an eminence in scholarship.

Prof Wrixon’s salary is around €190,000 but his successor’s will be commensurate with his or her experience.

Meanwhile, the heads of the country’s seven universities have signed a co-operation accord to increase collaboration to help them deliver on the objectives of the Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation.

There had been concerns by some third-level chiefs about University College Dublin’s alleged poaching of top staff, but the agreement commits all seven members of the Irish Universities’ Association to open and transparent recruitment of staff. The colleges also agreed to respect each other’s research and teaching strengths when developing themselves.