The university began the listening stage of the presidential search process Sept. 17.
With the aim to receive input from the campus community on the qualifications and criteria for the university’s next president, the presidential search committee began holding “input sessions.”
These sessions will include open forums for the campus community, meetings with university colleges and meetings with student groups.
The presidential search committee
The co-chairs of the presidential search committee are Trustee Dianne Byrum and Trustee Melanie Foster.
With the goal to assemble a diverse search committee, Foster announced in August that the committee includes nine women and 10 men, five of which are people of color.
Faculty, staff, alumni, two students, half of the Board of Trustees — Byrum, Foster, Trustee Dan Kelly and Trustee Joel Ferguson — and other members of the community, are also on the search committee.
What to expect at the upcoming input sessions
At each session, members of the presidential search committee will ask students and faculty three pre-written questions to respond to.
The sessions will not include a question-and-answer period, and each comment is limited to two minutes.
The questions include:
Byrum said the search committee decided on these questions because they’re “ultimately the qualifications, the characteristics, the qualities, the criteria” they’re looking for.
At each session, the MSU Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention team will hold a safe space for faculty and students who feel uncomfortable or triggered during any part of the discussion.
Students, faculty, staff and other members of the MSU community can also fill out input forms on the presidential search website if they were unable to attend any sessions or have any further comments.
What’s next in the presidential search process
The presidential search committee will hold public open forums for the campus community on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11 at the Kellogg Center.
Representatives from Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, the firm that specializes in higher education executive searches that was selected to guide the MSU presidential search, will attend these sessions.
On Oct. 10, the session will be held in Room Big Ten A and on Oct. 11, it will be held in the Lincoln Room. Both will last from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
On Oct. 4, an input session specifically for labor staff will be held at the Hannah Administration Building.
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Sessions for colleges have already been held at the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Music. Sessions will soon be held at the Eli Broad College of Business, the College of Social Science, the College of Osteopathic Medicine and more.
After the community input phase of the presidential search process is over, Foster said the committee will use their notes from the input sessions to develop the criteria for a new president.
Teresa Sullivan, the former president of University of Virginia who was hired to advise the co-chairs during this process, will be a part of this phase.
A “position description” will then be included on the MSU president job posting and will be made public around the end of October.
The search committee will then begin accepting applications for the new president.
Byrum said a few of the questions that are being addressed to members of the public during community input sessions will also be asked during candidate interviews.
Identifying candidates and the initial interviews will begin in November, and final interviews with the MSU Board of Trustees are set to occur between February and May.
The Board of Trustees will ultimately decide who the permanent university president will be, which will be announced in June of 2019.
