Presidential Search Campaign Update

The search for the University of Toledo’s new president has become a community effort, with not only the committee in charge voicing their opinions, but the students and faculty as well.

The search began in March 2014, when former President Lloyd Jacobs announced his decision to step down. Since then, the university has partnered with the Witt/Kieffer search firm in order to assist with efforts to find a new president, as well as to appoint an official Presidential Search Committee made up of faculty, administrators and students.

The search committee has varied members, including Student Government President Clayton Notestine, the deans of several colleges, and other faculty members. Joseph Zerbey, chairman of the Board of Trustees, is in charge of the search committee.

Right now, Notestine said, the focus is on gauging public opinion, which is why Student Government will be opening the floor for discussion of the topic. The first round of forums is over, but the committee plans to have several more. For those who can’t make the public meetings but would still like to voice their opinion, he also said there will be student-based polling in the future.

For those who don’t attend any of the meetings, Notestine said the website is a good way to stay up to date on the progress so far. As well as being a useful resource for students to follow the search and provide feedback, anyone planning on applying for the position can find out more information through the website.

Notestine already has a few ideas in mind for what he would like to see in the new president, including a public presence, the ability to unite faculty and staff and someone who enjoys interacting with students.

“The more cohesive the university is the easier it will be for us [to] focus on rebuilding relationships with the city and rewarding industries,” said Notestine.

Thursday morning, in addition to the public forums, the Board of Trustees held a meeting to discuss the search. Notestine said most of the meeting was discussing the actual process of searching for a new president, including the discussion of what qualities the committee wants to see, and what they want the candidate to achieve in their new position. He added that if they do not find a satisfactory candidate, the process will start over again, rather than settle for a candidate who does not have the full confidence of the search committee.

As for applicants, some have already contacted the university, but there is no definitive list as of now. Notestine detailed the extensive efforts going into the search, adding that it will take most of fall semester, ending with in-person interviews with candidates on Dec. 11 and 12. By January, the search committee hopes to have a list of final candidates to publicize, so they can visit and interact with the university.

A notice was posted in Chronicle of Higher Education, a news source for college and university faculty, to advertise the presidential search to potential candidates. The ad said that to be president, “Absolutely required are a deep and abiding commitment to students, patients and university communities and the central assets of leadership necessary to move such a community forward — especially intelligence, integrity, energy, judgment, passion, optimism, communication and interpersonal skills at the most compelling level — and a commitment to an inclusive and transparent leadership approach.”

The deadline for applicants is Nov. 14th.

Larry Burns, vice president for external affairs and one of the heads of the search committee, said “There is a lot of work yet to do in the coming months to narrow down potential candidates, but we are off to a great start.”