By JORDAN GREEN, Editor-in-Chief
Northwestern will name its next president by the end of April following months of intensive interviews with applicants from across the nation, the regent leading the presidential search process said.
Jane McDermott, a member of the Regional University System of Oklahoma Board of Regents, spoke to Northwestern faculty and staff during two meetings in the Education Center on Wednesday, outlining the process to replace President Dr. Janet Cunningham, who is retiring from her 16-year presidency in June.
This is the first presidential search process at Northwestern in nearly 20 years, officials said, because Cunningham was appointed to the presidency without such a search in 2006.
“Choosing a university president is the most important job we have as a regent,” McDermott said. “As we value that, however, there is no cookie-cutter approach to presidential searches.”
The presidential search process began Tuesday when the president’s job listing was posted online, and it’ll end in April with a final vote by the Board of Regents to hire a candidate.
In the meantime, regents, Northwestern faculty and staff and other university stakeholders have countless interviews to conduct and application packets to read through.
The Board of Regents has hired nationwide firm Higher Education Leadership Search to advertise the president’s position, recruit candidates and collect application materials, McDermott said. The job listing was sent to roughly 80,000 higher education professionals in the firm’s database on Tuesday, and it will be advertised in higher education-related publications.
After the search firm has recruited candidates, a screening committee comprised of 15 to 20 Northwestern students, faculty, staff, alumni and community leaders will begin reviewing candidates’ application materials, narrowing down the number of candidates and preparing a list of finalists. The list of committee members will be publicized, McDermott said.
The committee’s list of finalists will be given to three regents, including McDermott, who will then recommend a candidate to the full Board of Regents. The full board, McDermott said, will vote to hire the next president after a series of interviews, background checks and other assessments.
McDermott said the search process is “highly confidential” and that no applicants’ names will be released – unless regents and other searchers change their minds. Many universities have started announcing the names of finalists during their presidential search processes, and regents are reviewing whether to do that here, she said.
“We are going to do everything in our power to find the president who will serve you well and will lead you, the university, into its next chapter,” McDermott said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for someone to come to a place as great as this.”
The new president will take office July 1.