A growing industry in the United States is one concentrating on locating individuals who might be good college and/or university chancellors or presidents.

Right now two Kansas universities, Kansas State and Pittsburg State, are looking for new presidents.

Officials at each school have announced they will be using a search firm to identify individuals who might have the qualifications to assume the presidencies of the two schools.

The use of “head hunters” is a common practice in business, industry, athletics and many other fields. It is almost mandatory in the field of education, particularly in higher education when looking for a chancellor or president.

Regents, curators and others given the responsibility of overseeing the operation of the institutions want to do everything they can to protect themselves from being accused of conducting a limited search process and not making the job opportunity available to a wide spectrum of individuals.

West Virginia University is looking for a new president. This university, with approximately 27,000 students, has both a medical school and a school of veterinary medicine. Once the decision was reached to look for a new president, university officials did not waste much time.

They first asked former KU Chancellor Gene Budig to chair the search. The selection of Budig helps eliminate political favoritism and obtain the services of an individual deeply interested in the welfare of WVU. The chairman of the school’s Board of Governors said the process calls for an “aggressive timeline.”

The timeline calls for the position to be advertised nationally, no later than early November; all applications and nominations are to be received by Dec. 15 and they want to be able to name a new president on or before April 3, 2009.

To make sure everything is done correctly, the almost mandatory presidential “search committee” has been announced and a special committee has been created to interview potential firms to assist in the search process. All the bases have been covered.

Assisting Budig will be the usual number of faculty, students, prominent alumni and representatives from the school’s alumni and endowment programs.

However, the West Virginia University search team is a blue ribbon group as it includes the former president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Charles Vest and current WVU interim president C. Peter Magrath.

Budig has served as president of Illinois State and West Virginia universities and chancellor of Kansas University. He recently was a member of the Princeton faculty and currently serves as senior presidential adviser for the College Board.

He also has worked with and advised university administrators at Minnesota, Ohio State, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Magrath has served as president of the State University of New York at Binghamton, the University of Minnesota and the University of Missouri system. He was dean of facilities, provost and acting president of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He also headed the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Universities.

These three men, Budig, Magrath and Vest, certainly know what is required of today’s college presidents and are sure to comb the country for the best possible individual to move into the WVU presidency. Professional search firms can be helpful, but the manner in which the West Virginia search committee has been composed seems to offer the best chance for success.

It is hoped both Kansas State and Pittsburg State universities will be moving with the same speed and setting high standards for those who seek the two positions. When the time comes to find a successor to KU Chancellor Hemenway, Kansas Regents should move with the same speed and commitment to seek the very best, not just individuals looking for a change of scenery or those who are unhappy at their current post.

The chancellorship or presidency of a university, no matter what size, is an extremely important position as that individual can, and should, play a crucial role in the development of the university, the community in which the school is located and the entire state.

West Virginia officials have launched their efforts in the right way, and with Budig’s leadership, assisted by Magrath and Vest, they certainly have three individuals who have first-hand experience and knowledge of what it takes to be a good, successful and visionary chancellor/president. Other universities, other alumni and other states should take notice.

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The McCain versus Obama presidential campaign seems to be boiling down to a question of what is more important: strong leadership, vision, courage, honesty and tested under fire, or beautifully written and delivered speeches, record amounts of money to hire hundreds if not thousands of workers, and philosophical answers and solutions to challenging problems.

Do money and good-sounding talks trump leadership, vision and courage? Which story will American voters buy?