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Update from the Presidential Search Committee By Dr. David Haddad, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee September 24, 2010 -- Memo to the Community Dear Fellow Members of the Wheeling Jesuit Community, The Presidential Search Committee has selected 8 semifinalists for interviews with the Committee in early October. We believe the remaining candidates are strong, and they have a variety of backgrounds. We decided to add a contingency date, October 19-20, for a fourth candidate, in case we judge that four candidates merit review by the entire campus. You may recall that the other three dates are October 13-14 for candidate 1, October 14-15 for candidate 2, and October 18-19 for candidate 3. The detailed schedule campus interviews are posted on the Presidential Search section of WJU’s web site at Htttp://www.wju.edu/presidentsearch/. Please note the time for the open meeting with the faculty and open meeting for the entire community as well as times for individual constituencies. Please reserve the appropriate times and dates on your schedule when you can meet the candidates. Several of the candidates are under consideration in other presidential searches, and it is possible that one or more may drop out of our search even after the campus interviews. Attracting them here remains one of the two important tasks all of us will need to undertake. We ask for your continued prayers for a successful search that results in an inspired president who will work with all of us to bring about a bright future for Wheeling Jesuit University. Dave Haddad September 9, 2010 -- Memo to the Community Dear Fellow Members of the Wheeling Jesuit Community, I am writing to give you a brief update on the status of the presidential search. The Search Committee has now received 50 applications. As I mentioned in my last report to you, they include sitting presidents, vice presidents, deans, and business executives, as well as members of the laity and members of religious orders. The Committee believes that we have a strong pool of candidates. The Committee has now asked R. H. Perry and Associates to conduct reference checks and internet searches on 25% of this pool of candidates. In addition, R. H. Perry and Associates will have spoken directly with each member of this group by late September. Based on this information, the Search Committee will invite 6-8 semifinalists for interviews with the Committee. Following these preliminary Committee interviews in early October, we anticipate inviting three finalists to campus for interviews on October 13-19. The Board will consider the finalists on the 20th. The time-table for the search and the tentative campus interview schedule are posted on the Presidential Search section of WJU’s web site. We have been and will continue to be completely candid about the financial challenges facing the University. During the interviews we will need to both discern whether the candidate is a good fit for WJU and also extol WJU’s many strengths to attract the right candidate. I ask for your continued prayers for a successful search that will result in the appointment of a president who will build upon Wheeling Jesuit University’s many strengths and lead in providing students with an excellent Jesuit education that is imbued with the Ignatian tradition of serving others for the Greater Glory of God. The members of the Search Committee thank you for your work in making a wonderful start in
the new academic year, and we also thank you for your continued prayers. Sincerely, David C. Haddad August 18, 2010 -- Memo to the Community Dear Fellow Members of the Wheeling Jesuit Community, I am writing to you regarding the search for the President of Wheeling Jesuit University. Mimie Helm, Chair of the Board of Directors, has appointed a Search Committee to conduct the search. The members of the committee include board members and representatives from the Society of Jesus, the faculty, administration, staff, student body, alumni, and community. Five of the members are alumni of WJU. The members are listed in one of the attachments. The Chair of the Board and I have interviewed a number of national search firms to assist us with this critical search. After consultation with Board members, we chose R. H Perry & Associates as the consulting firm to work with us. They have extensive experience in presidential searches and in presidential searches for Catholic and Jesuit universities. The two consultants who are working directly with us are Dr. Allen Koenig, whose special expertise is academic presidential searches, and Mr. Matt Kilcoyne. Both have experienced and been enriched by wonderful Jesuit educations. These consultants from the R. H. Perry search firm have worked with us to construct an advertisement and presidential search profile, both of which are on the R. H. Perry website and will be posted on the WJU website. The ad has appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education in print and electronic form. In addition, the firm has sent emails or mail with the profile to over 2400 presidents, vice presidents and deans inviting nominations to the position. They have nominated over 50 people from their databases and other sources. Of course, they have contacted the Jesuit presidents, provincials, and the head of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities for nominations. To date we have received 30 applications and expect more before the beginning of September. So far, the pool includes presidents, vice presidents, deans, and executives of colleges, universities, and businesses. The search firm continues to solicit and receive nominations and applications. The Search Committee had an organizational meeting on August 13 to agree on a tentative timeline and schedule meetings to begin evaluating applications. We plan to have face-to-face interviews with the semifinalists in early October and bring finalists to campus for interviews in mid-October. Our hope is for the Board to name a president who will assume responsibility as soon as possible, though it is unlikely that most candidates will be able to come before January 1, 2011. The tentative timeline is attached to this email, and I plan to give you a brief status report at the principal milestones in that timeline. We may need to adjust the timeline as circumstances dictate. I will keep you informed if we do. If you wish to speak to a member of the search committee, I suggest that you contact the member who comes from the same constituency as you. Thus, students should contact Trent Krupica, staff should contact Dan Feeley, and faculty should contact Kathy Solovan. I personally have interacted with recent graduates who are products of the wonderful education provided at WJU. All the members of the Search Committee thank you for the work you do–your work enables the University to produce such great graduates. I believe we can find an inspired leader who will unite the campus and focus a turnaround in the financial picture of the University so that we can continue to serve our students with WJU’s excellent education and continue to produce, into the indefinite future, great WJU graduates who exhibit the critical thinking and service with and for others that is characteristic of WJU’s Jesuit education. I wish you God’s blessing in your work, and I ask that you include the success of this search in your prayers. Dave Haddad, Class of 1964 |