FAYETTEVILLE -- A search firm charged $231,242 for services related to finding an inaugural director for the University of Arkansas School of Art.
"The University of Arkansas Foundation paid the fees with private funds. No state appropriations, tuition or academic funds were used," Todd Shields, dean of the UA J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, said in an email.
The university last month announced the hire of Gerry Snyder, a dean at Pratt Institute, after a search that began in 2017.
The first monthly invoice from Los Angeles-based search firm Korn Ferry is dated Sept. 22, 2017, about a month after the announcement of a $120 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation to support arts education.
The search encountered unforeseen setbacks. Two finalists invited to Fayetteville in spring 2018 opted for other jobs.
The firm's contract with UA states that "Korn Ferry recognizes that, pursuant to gift endowing the School of Art, the inaugural Director is specifically required to be in place no later than January 18, 2017." Shields said the date "must be a typographical error," as the university targeted 2018 as a timeline to make the hire.
Despite the extended length of the search, Shields said the university is "happy with the services" provided by Korn Ferry, which he said included connecting UA with "multiple subject matter experts who provided guidance and advice as we transitioned from a department to a school and continue to build a new School of Art from scratch."
Korn Ferry's fee was to be "based on one third of the total first year's estimated compensation," plus monthly expenses, according to the contract. Snyder will be paid $350,000 yearly, a total that includes a base salary of $266,000 and an $84,000 administrative stipend.
Korn Ferry invoices show $4,000 consistently billed each month in "administrative fees," plus other expenses, including $5,495 that Shields said was for advertising services and $535 that Shields said was for a pre-employment background check on Snyder.
David Perlmutter, a professor and dean of Texas Tech University's College of Media and Communication, writes regularly about hiring and employment issues in higher education.
"It is pretty typical that a search firm charges half the starting salary, plus expenses," Perlmutter said.
He said the value of a search firm includes bringing attention to a school's search.
"It bestows a certain purpose to a search, that you've spent this extra money and extra time to bring in a third party," Perlmutter said.
The fee does not reflect other costs. Expense records, released under the state's public disclosure law, show meals for Snyder and various UA faculty members during a March 31-April 3 visit by Snyder to Fayetteville.
Unlike in spring 2018, when four candidates for the job gave campus presentations, no similar public events were held for Snyder during his visit. Based on records released by UA, meal expenses added up to about $660 during his visit, including a $342.92 bill that included meals for seven UA art faculty and Snyder at Vetro 1925, an Italian restaurant in Fayetteville.
The records list Snyder as a "visitor" or "consultant." Shields said Snyder "was asked to share his expertise on how to build a new School of Art as a subject matter expert in the field of art and art education."
Shields said Snyder did not ask for payment.
Metro on 06/29/2019