The director for University Police search committee has narrowed down the candidates from 38 to three.
The three candidates are Mark Kimble, who is a sergeant for the Olive Branch Police Department from Southaven Miss., Lori A. Olson, who works in the U.S Department of Labor from Jacksonville Fla., and Edward Smith, who is chief of police from Oklahoma City, Okla.
Each candidate toured the campus, visited the University Police station, had an interview with Judy Daniels, dean of student life, and Eugene Dial, vice president for student affairs. Each candidate interviewed with the search committee, met local law enforcement such as Lafourche parish Sheriff Craig Weber and the Chief of Police for the city of Thibodaux, Howard Robinson, attended an open reception where members of the Nicholls community could ask the candidates questions and interviewed with Stephen Hulbert, University President.
“Discussion for the search began shortly after the fall semester because we were waiting for our new president to come in and give us the green light to proceed with the search,” Daniels said. “Hulbert made it clear it was a priority he thought we needed to address.”
Dial said that the questions he asked the candidates in the interview concentrated mainly on how they are going to run the police department for the campus community.
“The first thing the director of University Police must do is to learn as much as possible about the University Police staff and needs of the University,” Dial said. “Once the director is familiar with the staff he or she must determine if the staff is utilized in the best way possible to maintain a secure campus.”
Daniels said they have been through the approval and advertising processes. The advertising process consisted of developing a job description and putting the job announcement on every professional police website, newsletters, selective newspapers and other media outlets within southeast Louisiana.
“The ad was run for three weeks and left an open-ended deadline to apply for the position because the goal was to look for the best possible candidate, not to be confined by dates,” Daniels said. “The goal was to invite the candidates to campus for face to face interviews by early October.”
She said the search committee screened the candidates through phone interviews and narrowed the candidates from 38 to 10, five and finally three.
According to Dial, the director for University Police, is that a candidate must have a bachelor’s degree, have worked in a university environment at a supervising position and will have to undergo post certification. Post certification means the new director of University Police will have to go through standard training law and must have a police background that would be preferable in a university setting.
“The director of University Police, in a sense, has a public relations job because he or she must be able to deal with the public in a professional and courteous manner,” Dial said. “They must also have a strong commitment against crime, communicate with the community about crime prevention and be able to deal with many different police functions.”
According to Dial the salary placed in the budget is $46,000 and would be less or more depending on the qualifications of the candidate chosen. Other institutions in the southeast Louisiana area range from $41,000 to $51,000.
Daniels said the original candidates ranged from people who were fairly new to police experience to people with a great amount of police experience.
Daniels said the director of University Police should understand that his or her first priority is to provide safety and security. She said the role should be that of a mentor, nurturer and educator to help people correct and learn from their mistakes.
“Our emphasis was not to find just any police officer but to find a director who was uniquely qualified to fill the duties of a University director of Police,” Daniels said. “We are looking for a man or a woman who is sensitive to the needs of a student, faculty or staff member because a university community is not the same as a typical metropolitan setting.”
Daniels said all three candidates are extremely qualified and have experience working in a university environment.
According to Daniels, they are in the process of doing background and personal reference checks. Extensive checks are required for the hiring of any University position. The state police assist by doing criminal background checks. Daniels said any previous work experience and their identity is verified.
By middle of this week Daniels expects that all the facts and information will be collected. She said they would have received all of the recommendations from the search committee.
Dial said the search committee was made up of four student representatives, two faculty members and eight staff members.
Once this process is done Daniels said she will review the committee’s recommendations and review the rsum of the candidates and make her recommendation to Dial who will review her recommendation and then submit his recommendation to the board of supervisors.
“We are looking for someone who will make a long term commitment to the University, professional police and supervisory experience.” Daniels said “Someone who can adapt to Nicholls and have a professional relationship with the community.”