By BENJAMIN KLIEWER, Senior Reporter
The Regional University System of Oklahoma Board of Regents will begin the process of finding a new Northwestern college president on Friday.
The search process for a new president is designed to provide a seamless transition from incumbent President Dr. Janet Cunningham, who will retire in June, to the new president, according to the board’s website.
Regent Jane McDermott, a local business owner and regent from Alva, said the board will vote Friday to hire a firm to conduct the search process.
A search firm puts the job requirements, description and college information from the board and Northwestern public relations office into a package, which is called a position profile.
The position profile is available to applicants who request it. The firm accepts job application materials and provides them to hiring officials.
Regents will begin forming a selection committee with members of the community, as well as Northwestern faculty and staff.
The selection committee’s task is to look at all the resumes, McDermott said. Each member rates the applicants. No interviews are done at this time. After the rating is done, the top candidates’ resumes are sent to the full board of regents.
The full board has the final decision on who will be Northwestern’s new president. The board will conduct interviews with the candidates and make the offer to the chosen candidate.
“Selecting the university presidents is the most important job that we have as a board of regents,” McDermott said.
“We take it very seriously. Know that we work really hard in getting the perfect president for Northwestern.”
Cunningham, the university’s second-longest serving president, took office in 2006. She announced her retirement in early January, wrapping up a nearly 50-year career in education. She was the university’s first female president.
Dr. James Bell, associate vice president for academics and dean of faculty, offered a word of encouragement for students and faculty who are nervous about having a new college president.
“Whoever the new person is, I think we want to support them fully,” Bell said. “That doesn’t mean we blindly follow wherever they lead, but it does mean we give them a chance to come in and shape the position based on their vision – that we recognize that they won’t be the same as Dr. Cunningham, and that we offer them our best and most honest feedback in a supportive way.
“Their success is going to be all of our success because we all need the president to succeed.”