As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, universities more and more are beginning to turn to professional search firms to recruit applicants for high-level vacancies.

Iowa State is currently paying Baker Parker and Associates, Inc., of Atlanta, $70,000 in consulting fees to help it search for its vacant executive vice president and provost position, with the option of awarding up to another $10,500 for related expenses – travel, long-distance phone calls, postage, etc.

The University of Northern Iowa, as well, recently hired the services of Korn/Ferry International – one the nation’s largest executive-search firms – to hire former ISU provost and vice president for academic affairs, Benjamin Allen (whom Iowa State is looking to replace) as its ninth president, following the retirement of former UNI president Robert Koob.

Currently, the University of Iowa is employing the services of Heidrick & Struggles to assist in the search of a new university president following the departure of former U of I president David Skorton, who became president of Cornell University on July 1.

Board of Regents and search committee members have justified the use of search firms as allowing the institutions to cast a wider net and being able to attract a larger pool of outstanding talent.

Critics, however, are skeptical as to whether the money used by the public institutions is worth it. Others question the process used by commercial firms driven by profit, rather than the interests or needs of the institution.

“The use of search firms has been growing for a while and it continues to be popular,” said Paul Fain, staff writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education, who covers college presidents and college board management issues.

“It’s really the norm with big universities, especially with presidential searches. It’s also spread to other administrative positions such as provosts and vice presidents,” Fain said.

“Apparently, according to the search firms and search committees, it’s harder to fill the top positions. They’re getting to be much more difficult jobs, especially at public universities, because of cost and budget concerns.”

The talent pool is becoming smaller than it once was as the responsibilities of administrative positions at colleges and universities become more complex, according to officials at Baker Parker and Associates Inc. and Korn/Ferry International.

“Budget crunches make the job harder and they’re dealing with larger constituencies – state lawmakers, faculty and staff, students, parents, alumni and businesses. Tuition increases also put them in the crosshairs often and they have to do a lot more fundraising,” Fain said.

“It takes a person with a lot of diverse talents to do that, and that’s hard to find.”

The market is also becoming more competitive as public universities compete against each other for fewer available candidates, but also against private institutions who are able to pay for the position – as was the case with the Iowa losing its president to Cornell University.

The universities, as well, largely don’t have the time to conduct such a large search, Fain said.

“You are casting a wider net if you pay someone to do it,” he said. “The search firm will help you find someone who’s the best fit and who will last longer at the university.”

Fain concedes that it is not a cheap process and skepticism remains as to whether the cost is worth it.

Case in point: Northern Iowa paid a firm to conduct a national search, but in the end selected a candidate within the state from a sister institution.

“Could we have found Ben Allen without using a search firm, yes, but the point is you never know who’ll you get in your pool of candidates,” said Iowa Board of Regents President Michael Gartner.

“There’s always a level of risk. You just never know. But these are the people who have got the greatest knowledge of who the terrific people are and of who of those are available.”

Yet there are those who question whether universities and their governing bodies are too eager to fill the position, ignoring or failing to question the recruitment process used by firms striving for profits as opposed to the best interest of the universities.

“What generally happens is institutions make really poor choices, because these search firms are mostly cheerleaders for these candidates. Their goal is to get the university to hire the candidates they’ve selected or recommended. This leads to members of the search committee not knowing anything negative about the candidate, and lo and behold, they come with some baggage,” said Charles Davis, executive director of the Freedom on Information Coalition and associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism.

“I’m not saying that’s what will happen at Iowa State, but from a public policy position, it’s a dumb way to higher people,” Davis said.

Yet two-thirds of private and public colleges and universities use executive-search committees to help with presidential searches, according to the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.

With so many choices, the association has, in fact, endorsed the use of such consultants, and advises higher-education trustees to look for a search firm.

Davis said he remains undeterred.

“Wait till it backfires and they hire someone who they discover after the fact was fired from a previous job to embezzlement, they’ll be singing a different tune,” he said.