Presidential search update

Presidential search progress outlined

by Toni Searle

Faculty and staff had the opportunity to learn about progress on the search for a new CWRU president, plus give input into the process, during a June 11 open forum with the Presidential Search Committee.

Chairing the search committee is Ward Smith, a 20-year member of the Board of Trustees. He served on CWRU's last presidential search committee, and he worked on the search committee which brought Christoph von Dohnanyi to the Cleveland Orchestra.

To assist its efforts to help identify a successor to CWRU President Agnar Pytte, the committee has hired an executive search firm, A.T. Kearney Inc. Shelly Storbeck is the company's primary contact with the committee.

Robert Atwell, a senior consultant in Kearney's higher education practice, attended the open forum. Atwell was president of the American Council on Education from 1984-96, after serving as the group's executive vice president from 1978-84. He has been a Kearney consultant since then.

Atwell was president of Pitzer College in California from 1970-78 and had been vice chancellor for administration for the University of Wisconsin at Madison from 1965-70.

The search committee has begun to run advertisements in national publications, including the New York Times and Chronicle for Higher Education.

The committee will recruit candidates by sending letters to some 100 individuals and organizations in higher education to seek nominations, Atwell said. These resources would include universities, associations, foundations, and distinguished individuals in higher education.

Atwell and other Kearney consultants will also employ their networking skills to aid recruiting efforts by calling potential candidates around the country who should consider the opportunity to "join the chase," he said. "That's the phase that usually produces some of your best candidates."

The job description which the search committee has crafted calls for CWRU's next president to exhibit six key leadership qualities:

Highly respected as a leader with a commitment to academic excellence, scholarship, and research
An experienced manager and fund raiser
Well-versed in strategic planning, with a record of successful implementation
Capable of energizing and attracting a diverse, highly talented faculty, staff, and student body
Sensitive to the importance of service within the mission of the University
An excellent communicator

The job description also cites five personal qualities which the next president must possess: outstanding intellectual breadth and depth, strong interpersonal instincts and skills, student oriented, a high level of energy, and exemplary integrity and trustworthiness.

Click here to view the full job description.

Smith said that the committee "will explore candidates from both traditional and non-traditional sources." CWRU's next president must be familiar with academia, but not necessarily from academia, he added.

This opens the door to fields such as business, the arts, and non-academic science, Smith said. "We wanted this search to be comprehensive, and not ignore talent because it didn't come out of an academic crucible."