“Certainly, you know it will be tough. But you don’t really know just how tough until you’re in it,” she told The Salt Lake Tribune’s editorial board. McCluskey’s case, she added, was “a complicated challenge.”
When she leaves, Watkins will have been in the leadership role for just three years — one of the shorter presidential tenures for the U. in recent history.
The interim president could also be a prominent dean within the university; that has occurred previously when the position has been open.
For finding a permanent new leader, the Board of Regents already has approved hiring a national firm to help guide the process. The board will announce members of its search committee by the end of the month.