In one to three months, a new president of the University of Montana will be named, at least if all goes well, Commissioner of Higher Education Clay Christian said in a recent interview.
Christian also said the gig is a great opportunity — as did a faculty leader. The next president will be tasked with replacing Seth Bodnar, reportedly mulling a political career.
“Whoever comes in to be the next president will have an incredibly talented and committed faculty to brag about to not only the rest of the state, but to the rest of the country,” said University Faculty Association President Tobin Miller Shearer.
The president may have an incredible compensation package as well — like Bodnar in 2025, newly hired Montana State University President Brock Tessman earns a salary of $455,802 and deferred compensation of $75,000; Tessman receives free housing, and Bodnar had received a $50,000 “housing allowance.”
On Jan. 21, Bodnar announced he was stepping down after eight years to consider “a new way to serve our state and our nation” — earlier reported as a potential run for the U.S. Senate.
When Bodnar took the helm, the university was in the midst of an enrollment slide, and arresting it was a top priority, as was restoring community trust in UM. Since 2018, enrollment has stabilized at the Missoula flagship, and in 2024, UM notched the highest retention rate it has seen since at least 2015.
Christian said the campus has seen growth under Bodnar, and he and those invested in finding the next president want to keep that momentum, the Daily Montanan reports. To that end, Christian said it makes sense to move quickly on the hire.
“There’s so much volatility in higher education, it’s not a good time for us to sit on the sidelines for a year trying to figure this out,” Christian said. “I think that could be detrimental. I think we’ve got good momentum. I don’t want to see us lose that.”
Associated Students of the University of Montana President Buddy Wilson said students want ASUM and other leadership groups on campus to be consulted in the hire.
Generally, though, Wilson said students appreciate the investments Bodnar supported that impact them, such as a new dining hall and the increased engagement in student clubs in his tenure. Wilson said he came to UM from North Carolina because “it seemed like a great school; that was part of Bodnar’s impact.”
“I would be excited to see the momentum continue that President Bodnar started,” Wilson said.
As the search begins, Miller Shearer said faculty are feeling unsettled for a number of reasons, including announced program cuts at UM and attacks against higher education nationally.
Faculty, he said, are looking for a leader who has firsthand experience in academia.
Bodnar, a former General Electric executive, came from the corporate world when he was named UM president in 2018, and higher education institutions are increasingly looking outside their own walls for leadership.
“From the faculty’s perspective, we are looking for someone with deep roots in academia. The pendulum swings,” Miller Shearer said. “I think that’s something I’ve heard consistently from faculty.”
The average tenure of a university president has continued to fall in recent years, from 8.5 years in 2006 to 5.9 years in 2022, according to the most recent survey of the American Council on Education.
Christian said the current national average is four and a half years. With Bodnar leading UM for eight years and, at MSU, former President Waded Cruzado there for 15 years until summer 2025, Christian said Montana has been “incredibly blessed.”
“That’s so far outside the national norm that it’s fantastic,” Christian said.
Cruzado announced her retirement in August 2024, and the Montana University System undertook a search that lasted roughly the next academic year, partly by design, Christian said.
But Christian said Bodnar was always clear that the job in Missoula wouldn’t be his last one, given his age and ambition. Bodnar was 38 years old when he was chosen as president of UM in the fall 2017.
The abrupt announcement from Bodnar means the university system needs to respond quickly as well, Christian said. He said he doesn’t have a candidate in mind or a short list, but UM is in a good position to run with its current leadership.
An interim president has not been appointed, and even selecting a person and getting them up to speed can be a drain on resources, although he said that route remains an option if it becomes necessary.
In the meantime, Christian said, UM can lean on him when necessary, and Montana plans to work with AGB Search, an executive search firm the system has used in the past (AGB also advised against foot-dragging, in part because candidates view lengthier searches as more disruptive, he said).
A search committee will not be named, but Christian said conversations with stakeholders already are taking place to solicit input on the qualities and characteristics a new president should have, and people can give feedback online too.
Christian said he believes it’s worth looking at candidates from both a traditional academic background and also ones from outside the institution, largely because the business side of higher education “has changed pretty dramatically” in recent decades.
In short, Christian said, he’d like to present the Board of Regents with a candidate who can keep UM moving forward with its wins, such as being a top veterans serving institution, and one serving more Native American students than ever.
“We’ve had a reset. Seth’s team did a good job with that reset. We’re moving in a good direction,” Christian said. “I think it’s someone that can capture that direction and take it to the next level is my hope.”
This search is different from the one launched after Christian asked former UM President Royce Engstrom to step down in December 2016, after years of declining enrollment.
“It’s a different environment just from all aspects, including just the health of the organization,” Christian said. “And I would hope candidates look at this and say, ‘This is a really good institution on the way up, and they’ve battled some things and won.’
“And they can see a way forward to take this job and really take it to the next level.”
Although he and Miller Shearer share the view that a new president will lead a university with a passionate and talented team, Miller Shearer said the leader will also walk into a place that faces uncertainty.
He said proposed program cuts are causing consternation, both by people who could lose their jobs, but also from people who care about UM’s curricular offerings. He said the way the UM administration is handling the possible cuts is also concerning to faculty.
Additionally, Miller Shearer said UM is feeling the unfortunate ripple effects of national rhetoric. President Donald Trump, in particular, has fought with higher education institutions, including Harvard University.
“There’s a lot of restiveness because of the ways higher ed is under attack nationally,” Miller Shearer said.
As such, he said, faculty see a grounding in higher education as essential in a leader, more so than a background in business, as well as an ability to communicate about it, whether to the Board of Regents or the grassroots groups UM serves.
“It is a far greater lift to have an understanding of the project of higher education and articulate what it does well,” Miller Shearer said.
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