Co-chairs of the search committee formed to hire the next leader for the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (OVPRED) at the University of Iowa will host two open forums to solicit campus feedback on the organization’s structure and ideal qualifications for the next person who leads it.

UI faculty, staff, and students are invited to the forums. The first will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 9, in Room 1117 of the Medical Education Research Facility (MERF). The second will be at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20, in Room 2520-D of University Capitol Centre (UCC).

The co-chairs of the committee were charged by UI President Bruce Harreld to evaluate OVPRED and make recommendations “on the optimal forward-looking structure that can also guide the preparation of a position description” for its next leader, says Aliasger Salem, a co-chair of the search committee and the Lyle and Sharon Bighley Endowed Chair and Professor in the UI College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The other co-chair is David Gier, professor and director of the School of Music.

Salem says the forums will cover a range of topics pertaining to OVPRED, including the role of OVPRED; identifying essential jobs in the office; deciding whether OVPRED should encompass research and economic development; and recommendations on how the office can accelerate university research and better facilitate development, translation, and commercialization of the UI’s intellectual property.

“Our goal is to make thoughtful recommendations that are based on a broad range of feedback, and these forums reflect that process,” Salem says.

The 15-member committee has scheduled more than 65 meetings with various internal and external stakeholders, including vice presidents for research at Big Ten peer institutions and past vice presidents for research at the UI.