Dear members of the Wright State University Community:
On behalf of the WSU Presidential Search and Screening Advisory Committee (SSAC), I am writing to tell you of our progress with our search and what you can expect as we begin our work. You can expect periodic updates such as this one as we keep the WSU community apprised of our progress in identifying candidates to become WSU’s seventh president.
As you may know, Michael Bridges, Chair of the WSU Board of Trustees, recently announced appointments to the SSAC. I am honored to chair this committee and am excited about the incredibly strong leaders from across the university community who will join me on the SSAC.
Our committee includes more than 20 members – a large group, to be sure. Without making the SSAC so large as to be unwieldy, it was our goal to be as inclusive as possible so that we hear broad perspectives regarding WSU’s next president.
The SSAC will begin with a workshop on June 23, a meeting that will serve as an introduction to this important task. We will introduce committee members to the community and to each other and begin discussing plans for conducting the search.
The committee’s initial task, of course, will be to listen and learn, reaching out to the university’s many constituencies for thoughts and input. We will also consider WSU’s history, current strengths and challenges, and the challenges higher education is likely to face in the future as we develop the scope of our work.
Other key tasks include choosing a qualified executive search firm to assist in the process, reviewing and revising, as necessary, the WSU presidential job description, and developing a profile of presidential attributes WSU seeks in the university’s seventh president.
Soon we’ll be sourcing candidates according to our presidential job description and profile. Our goal will be to identify a richly diverse group of candidates who demonstrate the qualities most important to WSU’s future. Ultimately we will identify finalists who will be brought to campus for interviews and meetings across the university, and the committee will present one or more acceptable candidates for the Board of Trustees to choose from as our next president.
I know that many of you are eager for this process to get underway and to have an opportunity for input into the process. We are looking forward to a thoughtful, thorough, and prudent search in which we cast our net far and wide for a distinguished and proven leader for our university.
This search will be robust, comprehensive, and inclusive. I have no doubt it will also be very successful. On behalf of the SSAC and WSU Board of Trustees, we are most grateful for your support.
Douglas A. Fecher
Chair, Presidential Search and Screening Advisory Committee
Vice Chair, WSU Board of Trustees
