The MSU Board of Trustees have issued a request for proposals from presidential search firms to lead the search for a new, permanent university president, according to a press release.
Trustees Dianne Byrum and Melanie Foster, both leading the presidential search, announced in the release that the university is putting out a request for proposals from firms to lead the presidential search, which is one of the first steps of the "presidential search timeline" that was announced in late June.
According to the press release, all qualified search firms can email their proposals to presidentialsearch@msu.edu and the MSU community can also follow the presidential search online.
Several members of the MSU community who attended the press conference announcing the presidential search timeline said they were concerned that their voices would not be listened to during the presidential search process.
Both Byrum and Foster said they have been in contact with student organizations, such as the Associated Students of Michigan State University, or ASMSU, and have also made sure that the search process allows involvement from the MSU community through listening sessions and comments on the presidential search website.
“During this phase of the presidential search and moving forward, we will continue to call on students, faculty, staff and other key stakeholders to tell us the qualities and characteristics they consider most important in their next MSU president,” Foster said in the press release. “We will continue approaching this process as one Spartan community, which is imperative to a comprehensive, inclusive and successful search for our next president.”
After the board issues the request for proposals from presidential search forms, a search committee will be identified in August and interviews for presidential search firms will be held in September, according to the presidential search timeline.
Presidential candidates will be "identified for interviews" from November 2018 until January 2019, according to the press release. It's the board's goal to have a new president announced by June 2019.
“Seeking a firm to lead our presidential search is another step forward in finding the next leader of Michigan State University and we are excited to see this process begin to take shape,” Byrum said in the press release. “Once selected, our presidential search firm will help us find broad agreement and have a common understanding of our strengths, weaknesses and the challenges facing our university community.”
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