No internal candidates at Utah Tech University are among the pool of finalists announced Tuesday to be the school’s next president. And that’s a welcome development for many faculty members who had been hoping after a rocky year to have someone outside of the university come in to lead with a fresh perspective.
But the process for selecting any university leader could become more secretive with a new bill from state lawmakers.
The St. George-based school has been embroiled in controversy after a lawsuit was filed against former President Richard “Biff” Williams, who stepped down while under investigation in January 2024, as well as other administrators, some of whom had thrown in their names to take his place.
Williams is accused of leaving a phallic gag gift for one of his vice presidents after the man had surgery in November 2023. Williams left a note with the present that credited it to staff members who are now suing — the university’s top attorney, its second-in-command attorney, and its Title IX coordinator, who is tasked with responding to complaints of sexual misconduct.
The president, who is now the leader of Missouri State University, admitted to leaving the gift and apologized.
But faculty at Utah Tech said in a resolution that the behavior and the alleged efforts by other administrators to cover it up have spurred serious concerns about a deep-seated toxic culture at the school.
Whoever comes into the university as its next leader will be faced with addressing the continued fallout and restoring trust.
“This has been a rigorous and thorough process,” said Amanda Covington, chair of the Utah Board of Higher Education, in a statement.
The three finalists announced this week are:
• Phillip A. Cavalier, who is currently the provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he was also briefly an interim chancellor. He was previously provost at Lyon College in Arkansas and Eureka College in Illinois, and served as a dean at Catawba College in North Carolina. He has also been an English professor throughout his time in higher education. He was a finalist but not named to positions as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2023 and as president of Pennsylvania Western University last year.
• Steven J. Hafen, who is serving now as the administration vice president and chief financial officer at Brigham Young University in Provo. Before shifting to academia, he was a chief executive officer and chief operating officer for several companies that spanned across technology, training and consumer goods. He was also previously an adjunct faculty member at BYU’s business school.
• Shane B. Smeed, who is the president of Park University, a private liberal arts school in Missouri, where he’s also served as a vice president and chief operating officer. Before that, he held administrative positions at Kaplan University (now Purdue University Global) in Florida, Ottawa University in Kansas and DeVry University in Missouri. He is a Utah native.
(Utah System of Higher Education) Finalist candidates for Utah Tech University president, from left: Philip A. Cavalier, Steven J. Hafen, and Shane B. Smeed.
The candidates will all be on campus at Utah Tech for 45-minute meetings with students and employees on Feb. 24 at the school’s Eccles Mainstage Theater. Cavalier will be available at 2 p.m., Hafen at 3 p.m. and Smeed at 4 p.m.
The Utah Board of Higher Education will then conduct private interviews with the intention of announcing who is chosen as president on Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m.
The university has been without a permanent president for more than a year, after the search was put on hold for several months to investigate the misconduct claims against Williams.
The state announced a renewed effort to hurry along the process in December, overhauling the search committee and instituting an expedited timeline.
“Each finalist understands the important connection Utah Tech has in the community and each brings unique experience and leadership that will help shape the future of the institution,” said Deven Macdonald, a member of the university’s board of trustees and co-chair of the search committee.
New bill could hide names of presidential finalists
At the same time as the school is reviewing the finalists, the Utah Legislature is looking at possibly changing the process for public university and college presidential appointments moving forward.
Under state law now, three finalists for an open position are named to give members of the public a chance to vet them and provide feedback.
But a bill from Sen. Chris Wilson, R-Logan, would change that to where only the name of one finalist is presented to the Utah Board of Higher Education.
A search committee would review candidates in private and give their top pick to the board. The board would vote publicly to confirm the pick. Or, if the board doesn’t approve of the individual, the search committee would be tasked with providing a new name.
In the measure, SB282, Wilson says the point is to “respect and protect candidate confidentiality.”
This isn’t the first time this kind of legislation has been presented by state lawmakers, who have frequently expressed worries that naming multiple finalists harms the individuals who don’t ultimately get the job — alerting their current institutions that they were seeking another position.
Public pushback in the past has said the process, though, allows for transparency and for any concerns about candidates to be brought forward before they are hired.
The bill has not been assigned to a committee yet. The legislative session ends March 7.
For now, the Utah Board of Higher Education encouraged the public to weigh in on the candidates during the open interviews or to watch the sessions online. Comments and feedback can also be submitted via email to UtahTechPresidentSearch@ushe.edu.
The board’s statement noted: “Applicants are evaluated for many qualities, including their academic credentials, leadership experience, community engagement and vision for the institution they hope to lead.”
