Opinion: A lesson in university leadership

The University of Miami took an important step toward greater national prominence when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala agreed to become its next president. Over the past eight years, Shalala has demonstrated innovation and integrity in her management of a 61,000-employee agency that is responsible for national health and welfare policy. She and her staff did the hard work that made welfare reform more humane and efficient. She helped the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration expand their influence and enhance their reputations. Few other Clinton administration officials will leave Washington so widely respected.

Prior to taking the helm at HHS, Shalala served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, whose Madison campus is one of the country's great centers of research and higher education. She knows how to run a major university, and her time in Washington should only add to her ability to build on the University of Miami's potential.

Shalala is precisely the sort of candidate the University of Florida should have been looking for in a permanent president, but the top job at the state's flagship university isn't as attractive as it used to be. Earlier this year, the six finalists in UF's search for a new president -- none of whom could match Shalala's experience and reputation -- all dropped out of consideration. Their stated reasons varied, but all were mindful of the demise of the Board of Regents, the Legislature's politicization of higher education and the uncertain future of the university system's governance. Most top-rank academic leaders know enough about what's going on in Florida to steer clear of these treacherous waters.

The UF community is fortunate that Charles Young, the former UCLA chancellor who accepted the post of interim president a year ago, has agreed to extend his stay in Gainesville. All Floridians share in the good news that Dr. Young's wife, Sue, is making dramatic progress in her battle against cancer. Her improved condition allowed President Young to commit to UF for the next two years.

But unless the governance of the state university system is resolved in a rational way in the meantime, UF will have difficulty recruiting a new president of Dr. Young's stature in 2002.

The University of Miami has long been a nationally recognized private institution, and Edward T. "Tad" Foote, who will retire in June after 19 years as president, helped to solidify its reputation. But not until this year's national searches turned out so differently would anyone have suggested that the UM presidency had become a more attractive job than UF's. With Shalala, UM's future looks secure, while UF's fate has never looked more uncertain.

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