Welcome … and thanks to each of you for agreeing to serve on Wright State University’s Presidential Search and Screening Advisory Committee – “S-SAC” for short. On behalf of the WSU Board of Trustees, we appreciate your generosity of time and willingness to serve in this critical role. In many ways, there is no more important job to be done at Wright State than for this committee to assist the Board to recruit and select the best possible candidate to succeed Dr. Hopkins as WSU’s 7th President.
The formation of this committee is a somewhat rare event for the university. The last time Wright State conducted a formal search for a president was in 1992 when Harley Flack was selected to lead our university. Many of us were not with the university in 1992 and so in many ways we will be learning with and from each other as we craft this search process from scratch.
For me it is helpful to start with WSU’s current vision and mission statement. These are:
Vision
Wright State University, inspired by the creative spirit of the Wright Brothers, will be Ohio’s most learning-centered and innovative university, known and admired for our inclusive culture that respects the unique value of each of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni and for the positive transformative impact we have on the lives of our students and the communities we serve.
Mission
We transform the lives of our students and the communities we serve.
We will:
- Build a solid foundation for student success at all levels through high-quality, innovative programs;
- Conduct scholarly research and creative endeavors that impact quality of life;
- Engage in meaningful community service;
- Drive the economic revitalization of our region and our state and empower all of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni to develop professionally, intellectually, and personally.
Values
Wright State University values:
- People: Success, Diversity
- Learning: Discovery, innovation, scholarship
- Partnerships: Regional, entrepreneurial, global
- Relationships: Collegial, professional, ethical
- Sustainability: Social justice, economic opportunity, environmental protection
- Stewardship: Fiscal, Intellectual
As our committee begins its work today, I’d like to start by re-stating the objective given to us by the Board of Trustees, which is to present the WSU Board one or more highly qualified and acceptable candidates from whom to choose as Wright State University’s Seventh President. The goal is for the Board to have an appointment made in time to begin work upon Dr. Hopkin’s planned retirement on June 30, 2017.
This is obviously a critical decision as the Board’s choice will chart the future of WSU and all those it serves for at least 10 years, if not longer. This committee’s success in attracting the highest caliber candidates who are best suited to leading WSU is the Board’s best and most important tool for making exactly the right choice for the Wright State Community.
We have a lot of work to do in this regard. While it may seem that an entire year is plenty of time for the committee to complete its work, we must recognize that it will be all too easy for time to slip away from us. We must do this job thoughtfully, carefully, thoroughly, and collaboratively. All of it takes time. We are getting underway none too soon.
Members of this committee were carefully chosen to represent the broad diversity of the Wright State Community and the surrounding Raider Country. We have representatives from the Board, faculty, staff, students, alumni, foundation, retirees, foundation, deans, administrators, and community leaders. This diversity of perspective is critical: We will certainly obtain a better result as we collaborate with those whose views may differ from our own. With many voices we eliminate the potential for unintentional blind spots. Indeed, it is through the strengths and talents of a large and diverse committee that we give ourselves the best chance for success.
Yet a large committee also presents challenges. To efficiently conduct our work we must remember that collaboration and cooperation will pave the smoothest path forward. Of course we will not always all agree as we discuss the many important aspects of WSU’s next president, and to me this is a good thing. As I like to say, if everyone always agrees, nobody is really learning anything new. We will make ample use of small groups within our committee to conduct much of our work, and I look forward to collegial discussion, discovery and learning I’m sure will occur between each of us.
And now, down to it. The urgency of our work is perhaps heightened even more since we are not the only Ohio public university now conducting a presidential search. The University of Cincinnati, University of Akron, and Ohio University are all engaged in the same work as us. The search at the University of Akron is especially instructive, since they just conducted a search two years ago and their selection did not work out. We cannot afford to swing and miss, so we must move smartly forward with our task.
Today is the start. The purpose of our workshop today is to get to know one another as committee members and even more importantly, and as colleagues. Members of our administrative support team will provide us with important background information to help us prepare. We will begin discussing important components of the search, which in general include:
- Adopting a search plan
- Selecting a search firm
- Acknowledging our responsibilities and shared commitments towards each other as SSAC members
- Consulting extensively with key constituencies for perspectives on how WSU serves different communities and what would make a great president for WSU
- Writing and adopting a detailed Presidential Profile that describes qualities and characteristics that will best serve our university
- Conducting screening activities
- Recommending acceptable candidates to the board of trustees.
Of course there will be other tasks to tackle as we move through this search but these are the key aspects we will focus on as we get underway.
Finally, I’d like to acknowledge our administrative support team who will be helping us with this search.
- Mark Anderson is Director of Web Development and Strategy
- Kimberly Barrett is Vice President of Multicultural Affairs and Community Engagement
- Matt Boaz is Director, Equity & Inclusion
- Larry Chan is Vice President for Legal Affairs & General Counsel
- Gheretta Harris is Executive Director, Business Services Administration
- Bob Mihalek is Assistant Director of Communications and will serve as the SSAC Historian
- Shari Mickey-Boggs is Associate Vice President & Chief Human Resource Officer
- Robert Sweeney is Executive Vice President and Secretary to the Board of Trustees.
We will also have Amanda Banker who will assist as a student intern. I’ve asked these folks to attend our public meetings as they are available, support our committee with their subject matter expertise, and provide assistance to the committee as may be required from time to time. I hope each of you get to know these folks also – they are an impressive lot.
This concludes my opening remarks. Thank you again for agreeing to serve. I am excited to work with each of you and am looking forward to the task at hand. I’m sure it will be an interesting and reward ride for each of us.
And now, it’s time to get to work.
Douglas A. Fecher, Chair
Presidential Search and Screening Advisory Committee
