37 applied for SEMO presidency, but only one option was given

About 37 applicants applied to be SEMO’s 19th president, however, only one was named a finalist- Dr. Brad Hodson.

On Feb. 13, the presidential search committee and the board of governors unanimously selected Hodson, the executive vice president at Missouri Southern State University, to be the next president of SEMO starting July 1.

President of the Board of Governors and presidential search committee member Jim Limbaugh hosted a press meeting only a few hours after SEMO announced Hodson’s presidency.

He said all of the applicants were high quality and had passed background checks with glowing recommendations.

Junior historic preservation major Bailee Porteous attended Hodson’s open forum that SEMO hosted the day before he was announced as the next president. While Porteous is unsure why SEMO was only presented with one presidential option, she said that Hodson seems like a decent candidate.

“He seemed to really honor community in making sure that the universities connect within the community, as they do impact one another in a very big financial way. I have hope, but also I never take some of these words as actions because he is not in the president seat yet,” Porteous said.

When Dr. Carlos Vargas was selected as SEMO’s president in 2015, he publicly competed for the position with three other candidates, all of them presented in open forums similar to Hodson's.

Limbaugh said committee members agreed Hodson “created such separation” that they felt it unnecessary to invite anyone else to campus for an open forum.

“We thought, You know what? We're going to bring him in and we're going to let other folks in that have had skin in the game, we're going to let them do a look-see,” Limbaugh said. “And there's always a possibility that he just bombs out for some reason. Then maybe you go back to square one. But that's not the case. In fact, it's the opposite.”

A press release from the Board of Governors credited Hodson’s ability to build relationships and increase enrollment and fundraising as reasons for his selection.

“From the outset, the Board has been clear about its criteria for the next president: someone with knowledge of, and could establish a strong presence in, Jefferson City; someone that would place an emphasis on enrollment; someone with experience in philanthropy and fundraising; someone with a strong financial acumen; and someone that could build relationships both internal and external to the University,” the announcement stated.

Limbaugh added to this at the press conference, saying Hodson’s top priorities are building internal and external relationships and setting data-driven goals.