Gutiérrez: External Relations VP Search Over, Post Still Open
Guest speaker Jaime Gutiérrez, the interim vice president, made the announcement at Monday's APAC meeting.

By Shelley Shelton, University Communications
March 28, 2012


The search for a new vice president for external relations has come to an end with no appointment, members of the Appointed Professionals Advisory Council were told at their monthly meeting Monday.

With the departure of Stephen MacCarthy, the University began a search for the position in September and Jaime Gutiérrez was appointed to the position on an interim basis.

Last week, "the search was terminated with no successful candidate," Gutiérrez announced.

When President-Designate Ann Weaver Hart begins at the UA in July, it will be up to her to decide how to proceed, he said.

She could choose to hire someone away from Temple University, where she has been president for the last six years, or she could pick some other course of action, he said.

Gutiérrez said he was aware that there had been a candidate for the position, but "there was a misperception of what the candidate thought the job was going to be and what we were looking for."

Hart will be at the UA next month, at which time Gutiérrez plans to meet with her, he said, to get a feel for what she wants to do with the position.

He could remain in it for a few more months or another year, he said.

Gutiérrez was associate vice president for community relations until President Eugene G. Sander appointed him in August to serve as the interim vice president for external relations.

External Relations comprises the offices of Community Relations, Government Relations, Marketing and University Communications, along with Arizona Public Media, the Arizona Health Sciences Center Office of Public Affairs and the Phoenix External Relations office.

Gutiérrez replaced MacCarthy, who left the UA to become the University of Pennsylvania's vice president for university communications. Gutiérrez was to serve in the position until a permanent replacement is named.

On a different topic, Gutiérrez said the University's transition from Sander to Hart is getting under way, as the UA's vice presidents have been asked to put together snapshots of how their respective units are doing.

They've also been asked to answer a series of other questions, he said, such as, "If you had to make a cut, where would you make it?"

He said he suspects most people will answer the same for that one: "Pretty much all nonessential stuff was cut years ago."

Planning is also in the works for Hart's inauguration, which is slated for November and likely to be a low-key affair in deference to the tough economy, he said.

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