The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees will be exploring the possibility of locking down Interim President Randy Boyd permanently in the coming weeks, Board Chairman John Compton announced Wednesday.
After a discussion of his positive annual performance evaluation at the board’s annual winter meeting in Chattanooga, Compton suggested the board not conduct a search for a new candidate but instead explore appointing Boyd to a five-year term starting in November.
“Based on the incredibly positive feedback from the review process, I would like to recommend that we establish a process to look at removing the interim title and extend Randy’s title for five years,” Compton told his fellow trustees.
The board’s bylaws allow the chairperson to make a recommendation to the board when the chairperson determines it is appropriate to conduct a search for a candidate, Compton told Boyd after the discussion, but “the chair has determined that there was no need to do a search.”
“We wanted to make sure the board and all the stakeholders of this decision were aligned to that view, and after a lengthy discussion what we’ve heard from stakeholders is “Let’s not switch leaders right now because we have so many good things underway that you should consider [sticking] with the leader you have,” Compton said.