In search of: one chancellor for North Carolina State University and one cure for Searchitis, an expensive and seemingly chronic illness that afflicts trustees at major university campuses.

The malady is brought on by the resignation or retirement or departure of a university head. A feverish sort of panic sweeps down on trustees, who seek the cure by throwing tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes more, at search firms and other expenses to bring in "candidates with national reputations" for the job.

Stage Two of Searchitis is characterized by laryngitis or a form thereof, wherein members of a search committee can speak no louder than a whisper, and solemnly tell all pesky faculty members and media folks that they must keep the names of candidates top secret. Wouldn't want the word to get out. Candidates with national reputations don't like their current bosses to know they're shopping around, of course.

Stage Three? An affliction called "poor-mouth," wherein search committee members decry the paltry sums they're able to offer the candidates with national reputations. Since N.C. State is the largest school on the hunt in these parts (with the leaving of Chancellor Marye Anne Fox), let's use that as our example: These poor folks who wind up on the search committee are going to have to get on their knees in apology for the offer of a job that usually comes with lifetime tenure on the faculty (one's own personally inscribed velvet pillow), a car, a mansion and a salary that will be somewhere over a quarter-million dollars, and maybe more, if one goes by previous guidelines from the University of North Carolina system Board of Governors. No wonder some of them are worried about insulting candidates who come for interviews. ("Good grief," chancellor candidate Jones said to the search committee, "I took that much off my taxes in tips last year!")

The process of picking a chancellor or president has become an industry driven by search firms and a contagious affliction of one campus trying to best another with an inflated compensation package because of an erroneous notion that the more money you pay, the better leader you get. It's almost as if those hiring university leaders have fallen victim to the same foolish mindset of sports boosters who think price should be no object when it comes to landing a superstar football coach.

And it's ridiculous. But one of the factors driving this sort of thing is the preconception that a university has to search far and wide to find a leader. Oh, we don't want to look like small-timers. Call the search firm and let's fly some people in here from all over the country. Have a lot of meetings. Keep it hush-hush.

Oh, yes, the secrecy. The joke, of course, is that candidates for such jobs sometimes make it known themselves on the campuses where they reside. If not, friends will tell friends. Does anyone really think that some hotshot on another campus wouldn't want people to know he or she was being pursued by N.C. State?

University estimates are that the search for a Fox successor could cost around $200,000. And somewhere along the way, you may be sure that a trustee or two will complain that the salary range is not high enough. Frankly, that's downright insulting to the university and to the intelligence of its friends and alums. If the salary range is so paltry, then why will the trustees have -- as they always do -- a multitude of candidates from which to choose?

So here's a wild thought: Why not, for once, save the search money for something like scholarships, and look first to the campus itself. There are hundreds of faculty members, many of them with long experience, distinguished resumes and a familiarity with issues within and without the campus. The learning curve for any number of the them would be short. And if the university doesn't have a future chancellor or two (or three or four or five, for that matter) already in the ranks, then this is a campus in serious trouble. In addition, there are veteran public servants hereabouts who are not affiliated with the campus but could do the job.

It appears that Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Jim Oblinger would be a good candidate, and he must not be the only one. This is one of the best public universities in the country, so it isn't as if the next chancellor will be assigned to be the savior of North Carolina State.

The very best candidate may be "from around here," and that's something of which the university could be truly proud. It must be noted that an NCSU graduate already stands as a good example of the virtues of promoting from within. He was with what is now the UNC system when he became its president at 36, and went on to put in 30 years and become one of the most distinguished names in higher education. And though inflation might boost the number some, it's worth noting that as president of the University of North Carolina system, William Friday never made more than $100,000 a year.

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