University of Toledo CFO search turns up short

After a six-month search, the University of Toledo’s president Sharon Gaber decided against both finalists for the position of chief financial officer and executive vice president for finance and administration.

The final three candidates, Sherideen Stoll, Dawn Rhodes and Gregory Scott, all came to UT for public forums during the month of August. Following the forum, Stoll dropped out, leaving the choice between Rhodes and Scott.

Almost two months later, the university announced the decision, and that current UTMC CEO Dave Morlock would be temporarily taking over the position of CFO.

Morlock said he was happy to take over the position while Gaber searched for a replacement.

“I am glad to be able to help UT by returning to the Office of Finance to provide temporary leadership during this period of transition,” Morlock wrote in an e-mail statement. “We have a strong team of individuals in Finance and Administration who are committed to enhancing the financial strength, facilities, human resources, information technology and public safety of this university.”

According to Gaber, Morlock will only be serving as interim CFO for a short period of roughly one or two months until a new, longer-term
interim can be selected. While the long term interim CFO and VP of finance and administration serves for six to nine months, Gaber plans to launch a new search.

Gaber said the cost of the search was between $50,000 to $100,000, which she said is UT’s average cost range for an administrative search. The exact costs depend on whether a search firm is used and how the firm is paid, which can be based on either the firm’s fixed rate or a percentage of the salary.

Kristen Keith, president of faculty senate and member of the search committee, said the importance of the position justifies the cost spent on the search so far as well as future costs.

“This is such an important position for the university; we really need to get our finances right,” Keith said. “The money that we’ve spent is money that we’ve spent, and if it’s the right thing to go forward and engage a new search, then that’s what we need to do.”

While she had no concerns with the cost, Keith said she felt some possible downfalls were that the length of the original search may have limited the range of candidates, and that some of the initial candidates did not appear to be properly qualified.

For the next search, Keith said the committee should start from scratch with a new firm.

“I was on the search committee as I said, and I was amazed when they told me how quickly this search was going to take place,” Keith said. “It seemed like we were trying to do an awful lot in a short period of time.”

Gaber said that while both candidates had some of the qualities she was looking for, she felt the consensus was that both were “pretty good, but not perfect.” Due to the key nature of the position at the university, Gaber said she wanted to look for someone who was already a match as opposed to someone who might “grow into it.”

“I think the people we had had bits and pieces of knowledge, but maybe not the whole package at this point,” Gaber said.

Keith said she personally felt Scott had less experience than either of the other two candidates. Although Keith said she would have been comfortable with Rhodes in the position, she stands behind Gaber’s decision against hiring either candidate.

“Ultimately, Dr. Gaber has to hire somebody that she believes can do the job, and if she didn’t have that confidence in the two remaining candidates for whatever reason, then I think we were right to go forward,” Keith said.

Qualities Gaber said she looked for were experience with budgets specifically with a background in handling academic finance and administration, handling situations that required cost-saving measures, as well as someone who could handle the administration aspect of working with areas like facilities and the police.

For the new search, Gaber said she would like to take more time and allow for a more methodical process of selection for the candidates.

“We felt constrained; the interim CFO was Tom Biggs, and we knew he was leaving Sept. 30, and we felt pushed ahead really quickly,” Gaber said. “This might be one where plodding along a little slower might bring some people in a different way.”