Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill on March 17 which makes the process for selecting public university presidential candidates secret.
Senate Majority Whip Chris Wilson sponsored bill SB 282 which helps protect potential candidates’ privacy. It exempts the Utah Board of Higher Education’s search committee from public meetings requirements, restricts applications from the public eye and requires that the board protects candidate’s records confidentiality.
The search committee can recommend three finalists for each position to the board, and hold a public meeting for the final hiring session.
Wilson believed the previous law narrowed the pool of applicants and limited options for hire. This new law will allow more applicants to apply for these positions.
“Job applicants deserve privacy throughout the hiring process, especially if they are not selected for the position,” said Wilson. “[This bill] strikes a crucial balance between safeguarding individual privacy and upholding transparency.”
The Utah Media Coalition — which advocates for government transparency — spoke out against the bill. The coalition worries keeping the finalists secret will cut out the public, since the previous law released three to five finalists for public evaluation. The new restrictions don’t include this public process and the stake holders who could have valuable information the search committee missed.
“There’s value in allowing the public to have a role in this process,” said attorney Jeff Hunt, currently representing the coalition. “I understand there’s stakeholders on the search committee, but the most important stakeholder is the public.”
Even with the pushback, SB 282 cleared the Senate and the House with only one vote against it.
Author: Maddi Munro
Photographer: Anna Mower
Editor: Anna Mower
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