Legal Commentary

Here at University of San Diego we have begun a dean searching year. Our current dean Kevin Cole announced that he will be stepping down at the end of this year. Kevin and his predecessor Dan Rodriguez (who hired me and immediately announced the completion of his tenure as law dean...) continued the school's strong trajectory. We need someone who will continue the terrific path. My question to our wise readers -- what are the best strategies to identify possible dean candidates? Word of mouth? Focusing on those who are already on the dean pool radar? Or is it also productive to pursue people who officially claim no real interest in becoming dean? What is the likelihood that someone who hadn't thought of becoming dean will be convinced?

Any leads, advice and thoughts about the process most welcome.