Contact: Lynn Bretz, University Relations, (785) 864-3256
LAWRENCE - The University of Kansas is reopening its search for director of the Robert J. Dole Institute for Public Service and Public Policy.
Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway said today that the university will contract with a national search firm to find a permanent director. A campus advisory committee will be appointed to assist in the search, with a goal of having a new director in place by July 1, 2001.
"The Dole Institute represents a new enterprise for us," Hemenway said. "From the process of meeting with a good, diverse group of candidates we realized we're looking for someone with a particular mix of public sector experience and academic skills, and that is what we will pursue.
"It is critical that we take whatever time necessary now, at this juncture, to find the right match of skills and interests."
The Dole Institute was established in 1997 as a result of Sen. Robert Dole's gift of his papers to the university. The Dole Institute will make the former senator's official and personal papers and congressional materials available to scholars and the public and host a continuing set of programs that connect public policy to faculty, students, officeholders, and the public.
Final designs are being completed for construction of a $6 million building for the institute, sited on the university's West Campus.
To maintain the Dole Institute's current momentum, Burdett Loomis, professor of political science, has agreed to serve as institute program coordinator during the interim.
As program coordinator, Loomis will develop and seek grant funding for programs on civic education and family disability policies and continue other institute projects.
During the past year, the Dole Institute held two major events: a conference on "Civility and Deliberation in the United States Senate" in Washington, and a NATO 50th Anniversary Conference in Lawrence, Leavenworth and Overland Park. The institute also has hosted visiting scholars and sponsored internship programs in Topeka and Washington.