Academic

Could Press Coverage Of Alex Acosta Skew The FIU Dean Search?

By Dan Filler

Two Florida papers - the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel - reported Tuesday on the dean search at Florida International University School of Law.  The law school, a state institution presumably operating under sunshine laws, announced that it was interviewing 10 people for the leadership post.  They provided nine of the names.  (Sadly for them, not all of these folks remained available by day's end.) 

I found the news frame for both stories quite interesting.  Both papers led with one particular name: Alex Acosta, a Harvard grad who is the current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.  The Sun Sentinel simply calls Acosta a "leading candidate" for the job, but the entire story is about him.  The Herald goes further, saying:

R. Alexander Acosta, who will leave his post as U.S. attorney for the Southern District in the next few months, emerged Monday night as a top candidate to become dean of Florida International University's law school.  Acosta's name rose to the top of a list of 44 candidates being considered at a meeting Monday of the FIU search committee.

This story, which sounds in the language of political appointments, doesn't read like your usual "finalists announced" story.  At least as I read it, the Herald implies  that Acosta is something of a favorite for the job.  Perhaps - but I'm not convinced.  Or I wouldn't have been convinced until the story ran.  But the stakes have suddenly gone up for both FIU and Acosta.  Depending on the extent of Acosta's political ties - and they must be reasonably extensive or he wouldn't have the USA job - South Florida's public law school may now worry about alienating legislators.  And Acosta certainly won't want to be seen as the top candidate who crashed into the mountain. 

It's strange for a law school to name nine people being considered for a dean post.  Most public schools only identify the top few finalists; the private schools keep things closer to the vest.  (For example, we only learned that Penelope Bryan was a finalist at Whittier when she got the job.)  And the problem with this sort of publicity is that it might transform someone like Acosta - who may not have previously  been seen as that serious a candidate - into a de facto favorite.    I'll be curious to see how this search unfolds.  I wish FIU luck snagging a good dean -  attractive candidates are quickly disappearing!

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on February 11, 2009 (boomark / email).