Dec. 03--Illinois interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson said she's aiming to hire a permanent athletic director by the Jan. 21 board of trustees meeting in Chicago, although she's willing to pass that deadline if the right candidate hasn't been identified.
"I look at this AD search as really crucial for the campus," Wilson told the Tribune on Wednesday. "In my mind, athletics is the front porch of your university. It's the way we engage many stakeholders and fans. We want to make sure we hire an exceptional AD."
Wilson said she expects a search committee to be finalized this week. She said the university had not decided whether to hire a professional search firm. It has used Parker Executive Search in the past.
Sources told the Tribune that individual donors and alumni have been contacting candidates independently. Wilson said she encourages input from all connected with Illinois.
"People are nominating people and talking to people, and that's great," she said.
Some fans and alumni have criticized Wilson for the gap between firing football coach Tim Beckman on Aug. 28 and AD Mike Thomas on Nov. 9, instead of firing them at the same time to hasten the process of finding long-term replacements.
"From the outside it might look like we're slow and not doing things in the right time order," she said. "There's no correct time process in all of this. As a leader I have to take into account a lot of pieces of information that aren't available to everybody who is deciding to critique our timeline.
"I'm a consultative leader. ... If I were to do it all again, I'd do it the same way we've done it. It's been a careful process."
Wilson said she will prioritize AD candidates with "high integrity" and a record of making strong hires. Thomas was criticized for hiring Beckman, who was fired after an investigation into allegations of player mistreatment.
She said having previous Illinois ties is "not a deal breaker" and said "relationship building" is critical in repairing trust with a disgruntled fan base.
"We've been spending a lot of time talking with alumni and donors and fans," she said. "It's really important that they stick with us. This university will be greater for having support from all of our constituents.
"Our excellence is not dependent on a single point in time or a single hire. We're a top-tier research public institution. I'm sad when people focus on one particular issue or one particular hire as determining whether they like us or support us because we're so much more than that. We need people's support through the tough times and the great times."
