Over the years University of Hawai'i selection and search committee processes have gained a reputation of being only slightly more on the up and up than North Korean elections.

We're not saying they used the official Kim Jong Il playbook, but "rigged", "sham" or "mere formality" — pick a word — all have been used to describe processes that have filled some of the most visible athletic positions at UH. Often to UH's detriment.

Indeed, the last time UH set out to "pick" an AD, some members of the committee ended up holding their noses and charging that they were but window dressing and misled at that for a "done deal" that resulted in the hiring of Herman Frazier.

But as UH prepares to confirm Jim Donovan as early as tomorrow as Frazier's successor, we're hearing none of that. Which should be both good news and a reason for hope as the athletic department enters a new, challenging era.

With the aspirations and hopes UH and its fans have for the state's only Division 1-A athletic program and the struggles that it faces in getting there, the last thing UH needed was a dog-and-pony show delivering an orchestrated "winner."

So it is encouraging that people involved in the process are touting it as not only "fair" and "open" but as one of the most equitable searches they have been involved in. People who took part say that not only were all nine committee members encouraged to ask questions of the finalists and take part in a spirited exchange of views afterward, but that when a member was unable to be present for an interview, sessions were videotaped and played back. Moreover, Manoa Chancellor Virginia S. Hinshaw, who ran the whole thing, appeared to be both a strong leader and as open as anyone. She proved that the two qualities need not be mutually exclusive.

If interim AD Carl Clapp was Hinshaw's choice going in, as speculation had it, she emerged quite willing to be flexible, ultimately, going with Donovan. Word was that while Donovan wasn't the unanimous choice of the committee — which apparently didn't take a formal vote — he was the majority choice in discussions and the name forwarded to the Board of Regents, which meets tomorrow and Friday at Honolulu Community College.

With all that UH requires in its new athletic director, the last thing it needed was to be handicapped by a predetermined hire. History tells us the folly in that.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.