The University of Michigan will confirm or deny the rumors circulating that College Provost Lee Bollinger has received a nomination for the position of university president when it releases its short list of nominees for president of the university on Monday.
In a telephone interview from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Vice President of University Relations Walter Harrison said although he has not seen the long nominee list of 300, he would be surprised if Bollinger were not included. On Monday, the list will narrow to five.
"I will be the most surprised person in the United States if Lee Bollinger is not on the [long] list of people who have been nominated," he said. "He was a dean here, and is widely respected and admired."
"I don't have anything to say about whether he will be on the list of five," Harrison added.
Bollinger declined to comment on whether or not he has been nominated for the position.
Last week, the Detroit Free Press reported Bollinger had been nominated for the university's presidency, based on the testimony of an anonymous university official.
Harrison said he also received a call from a Lebanon reporter who claimed that Bollinger had been nominated.
Harrison said such reports are misleading because there are two steps to the university's search process.
The first stage is performed by a 12-member committee whose job is to amass a list of 300 candidates. The committee is comprised of faculty, students, staff and alumni and has been searching for candidates since the spring.
On Monday, the committee will present the list. In addition to the names of five people on that list whom they feel warrant further consideration.
The Detroit Free Press reported that the five candidates who received recommendations from the committee have already received invitations to Michigan's campus.
The university's board of regents take over at the second stage of the selection process, Harrison said.
The regents have the option of reviewing the list of five, the entire list of 300 or adding anyone else they deem worthy of consideration for the presidency, he said.
Harrison said the university should reach a final decision within three weeks if all goes well with the search process.
Bollinger was the dean of the University of Michigan Law School from 1987 to 1994.
He joined the faculty at the University of Michigan Law School in 1973 and came to Dartmouth in July, 1994.
Former Michigan President James J. Duderstadet left at the end of June after serving as president for eight years.
