Florida State University’s College of Law is gearing up to welcome three dean finalists − whose names have not yet been revealed − for campus visits as part of an ongoing search.
With visits taking place Aug. 13 and Aug. 19-20, the finalists will have the opportunity to engage with the FSU community through open forums from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. each day in Room 103 of the law school’s Main Classroom Building, which is located on West Jefferson Street.
“We invite the campus community to attend in-person open forums with the finalists,” the FSU law dean search committee said on its website. “These sessions provide an opportunity to engage directly with candidates and contribute valuable feedback as part of this important search process. Your insight and involvement are vital to this important decision.”
The dean search comes after College of Law Dean Erin O’Hara O’Connor announced plans to resign from the role in a March 2, 2026, letter to the law school community that was obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat. She has served in the position for 10 years, and after a new hire is made, she will remain at the college as a tenured faculty member.
Illinois-headquartered executive search and leadership advisory firm WittKieffer is working with the university throughout the search process as the firm’s senior partner Werner Boel assists the 18-member search committee. FSU Vice President for Faculty Development and Advancement Jeanette Taylor serves as chair of the group.
It is unclear how many candidates applied for the position ahead of finalists being selected, and attempts to get comments from Boel and Taylor were unsuccessful.
The ongoing search comes as Florida A&M University has recently named a new dean for its own College of Law, which is based in Orlando. Simone Marstiller – a former appellate judge and longtime state official – was appointed in June and began July 1. Most recently, she served as secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and the Agency for Health Care Administration under Gov. Ron DeSantis.
While the FSU campus visit dates have been announced, the dean finalists’ names won’t be publicly released until approximately 24 hours prior to each of their designated visits. Once the names are revealed, candidate materials and a feedback survey will be uploaded to the law school’s dean search website.
Releasing the names 24 hours ahead of the campus visits is standard practice during FSU’s searches involving dean and vice president level positions, a university spokesperson told the Democrat.
The Democrat has filed a records request seeking the names. Florida law generally requires records related to public university hiring to be open unless the Legislature creates a specific exemption. Lawmakers did so in 2022 for university and Florida College System presidential searches, allowing those searches to remain confidential until finalists are identified. No comparable exemption applies to dean or vice president searches, however, which remain subject to the state’s public records law.
Although the dean search began as a fast-paced move since it was launched less than two weeks after O’Connor announced plans to step down, the update of three finalists being selected comes over a month after the search committee met on June 16 to select the finalists.
Prior to the selection of the finalists, public listening sessions were held in March and the committee met in May to select candidates for first round interviews. Besides the upcoming open forums, the candidates’ daily schedules will consist of formal interviews with the university’s administration team during their campus visits.
According to an April meeting agenda, finalist interviews were initially scheduled to take place June 23, June 29 and June 30 before being pushed back to this month.
The formal interviews are not open to the public, but anyone can attend the open forums taking place on each of the campus visit dates. While the three upcoming forums with the finalists will be held in person, Zoom options will also be available on the College of Law’s dean search website in the coming days.
Here is a list of the university’s law dean search committee members:
For more information
Tarah Jean can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU search committee announces campus visits for law dean finalists
Reporting by Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
