Five months ago, the board of trustees and administrators at Youngstown State University failed miserably on their test of accountability and transparency to the taxpayers who fund their institution.

Few can forget the justifiable outrage vented by a wide swath of the YSU community and others — including this newspaper — upon discovering that the entire process in hiring former U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson as the university’s 10th president was kept under lock and key.

Today, much of that outrage has subsided, but judging by a continued flow of letters to the editor assailing the undercover presidential search and the candidate selected, YSU still has a long way to go to restore robust confidence in the institution in general and in its hiring process for top administrative leaders in particular.

But today, three short months after Johnson officially took office, it appears as if those same leaders may have gotten the message. To our surprise, a current ongoing search process for the university’s No. 2 top administrator — provost and vice president of academic affairs — has taken a dramatically different and commendably transparent turn.

The university’s weekly newsletter to the campus community has contained updates on the progress of the search for this critical administrative post. Just last week, it presented the names, resumes and cover letters to the university of each of the three finalists for provost. And to our amazement, public forums are ongoing with each of the finalists for YSU staff and students plus the Greater Youngstown community to attend.

It is our sincere hope that the board and other top leaders at the esteemed university learned a valuable lesson from the botched search for President Johnson. We can only imagine the intensity of anger and mistrust that would have erupted had this search played out as a repeat performance of the top-secret drama of last fall.

Fortunately, the open and inclusive process being carried out this week in weeding the three finalists down to one chosen provost may go far toward healing the wounds of the last boondoggle.

That’s why we hope a broad cross-section of the university community and Mahoning Valley institutions that deal closely with YSU take the opportunities this new and improved transparent search offers.

One clear way to do so is by attending the open forums, taking notes and sending comments back to the decision-makers. Toward maximum transparency, we hope the university will livestream or post videos of each session to a convenient spot on the university’s website for all to digest.

The first session featuring interim YSU Provost Jennifer Pintar took place 2 to 3 p.m. Friday in Schwebel Auditorium of Moser Hall off Lincoln Avenue. The two remaining sessions are scheduled at the same time and place today for candidate Alyson Gill, a former provost of Lees-McRae College in North Carolina, and Tuesday for Carolyn Smith Keller, associate provost of the University of Wisconsin at Platteville.

After the forums, we urge the search committee and trustees to take any concerns from the audience about each candidate seriously and weigh them before making a final decision.

Clearly, this selection carries great importance to the future of the university, particularly during these uncertain times of declining enrollments, rising costs and falling state support.

The YSU provost, after all, wields considerable power. She (all finalists are women) will serve as the chief academic officer of the university, with responsibility for all of its academic operations. She will play a central role in determining academic strategy and priorities, including those hard decisions on abolishing departments and laying off staff.

Pintar, who might be considered a front-runner due to her long tenure at YSU, became interim provost in January as Johnson assumed the presidency. She replaced Brien Smith, who had served as provost for about five years before moving on to the position of special assistant to President Johnson. Curiously, however, Smith is making a rather quick getaway from his new post as he was selected this month to become provost of the University of North Alabama and is expected to begin his duties there around June 1.

As YSU prepares to seat its second major new leader of the year this spring, decision-makers also must keep in mind the new provost must work well and effectively with the Johnson administration. That will be key in successfully overcoming several new challenges, not the least of which is accommodating potentially hundreds of new students transferring from the nearby Eastern Gateway Community College as it dissolves.

But as long as this search continues along the newfound path of openness and transparency and as long as all stakeholders have a voice in the selection, we’re confident YSU will soon seat a promising provost – minus the rancor and uproar that accompanied its last major leadership decision.

editorial@vindy.com

SCRIPTURE

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Lamentations 3:24-25 ESV