The Going rate

The most recent news on Florida Atlantic University's search for a new fundraiser.

Florida Atlantic University has extended the application deadline for the school's chief fund-raising job, finding just two leading candidates out of an initial list of 42 hopefuls.

Doug Smith, a consultant working with an FAU search committee, said Monday he didn't see any stand-out résumés among those who applied and urged the group to keep looking for a replacement for Lawrence Davenport. Davenport resigned as senior vice president for university advancement in March with $577,950 in severance pay.

"I thought it was exceptionally weak, to be blunt," Smith said about the pool of applicants. "You have to know how high the stakes are here."

And, Smith acknowledged, filling the spot won't be easy.

The job includes leading the FAU Foundation as executive director and will mean running a capital campaign for hundreds of millions of dollars that the university hopes to launch soon.

The expensive dismissal/firing of Lawrence Davenport earned FAU President Frank Brogan a Knucklehead award. Brogan still hasn't adequately explained why Davenport got such a lucrative severance package.

The Palm Beach Post editorialized today.

It comes as little surprise that Florida Atlantic University extended the timeline for replacing chief fund-raiser Lawrence Davenport, who resigned in March. Or that FAU's search consultant calls the candidate pool "exceptionally weak" after the department's latest controversy, Dr. Davenport's nearly $600,000 going-away package.

But as any marketing student knows, the best strategy is to turn a negative into a strength. Rather than promote the job's hefty salary or FAU's great and growing medical and other programs, perhaps the pitch should be: "Come on down; the severance is great."

LOL, Randy Schultz. This isn't the first time I've enjoyed a sarcastic Post editorial. Read this one involving the local school board's payroll mess. In spite of all the Knucklehead awards I've awarded the Post in the last two years, TFM admits they do get something right occasionally.

The search for Lawrence Davenport's replacement should go on, as well as the questioning of Frank Brogan in regards to why he paid Davenport so much severance. The University's donors and the citizens of Palm Beach County deserve an answer.

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