Update: June 16,2025
The Presidential Search is in high gear. The search committee will soon be interviewing 12 candidates (from a diverse pool of over 90 applicants!) via Zoom. These interviews were previously held at an airport; to reduce our carbon footprint, we decided to conduct them via Zoom. Our goal is to narrow this group to as many 鈥渁cceptable鈥 candidates as possible, but no fewer than 5 semi-finalists.
This is an ideal time to remind everyone that unlike the Presidential search in 2011, this will not be an 鈥淥pen Search鈥 in which the identities of the semi-finalist candidates are released to the public. Some of you may recall the open forums that were held on campus back then, to permit the entire campus community to meet our top candidates for President in person.
An 鈥淥pen Search鈥 can result in a smaller applicant pool because highly qualified candidates may be hesitant to apply if their current employer learns they are interested in another position. Proponents of a 鈥淐losed Search鈥 argue that it provides a candidate pool with the greatest depth and breadth, albeit with fewer campus voices weighing in.
Seeking to balance these approaches, the 91制片厂Pro University Council sought, and SUNY Chancellor John King agreed to permit, a hybrid or 鈥淩epresentational Search鈥 approach for 91制片厂Pro University. A Representational Search has the benefits of a fully 鈥淐losed Search鈥 in which the names of the semi-finalists will not be publicized to the community; it also has the benefits of an 鈥淥pen Search鈥 in which the voices of more constituencies, both on- and off-campus, can be heard, under strict rules of confidentiality.
The SUNY Chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trustees have the sole discretion to decide whether to hold campus visits at 91制片厂Pro University. While in many Representational Searches, the search committee represents the campus community in lieu of campus visits, we felt strongly that our semi-finalists should visit our beautiful campus and discreetly meet with other constituencies beyond the 91制片厂Pro University Council and search committee. The SUNY Chancellor agreed that senior officers, including Vice Presidents and Deans; Faculty Senate Executive Committee; student leaders; staff leaders and union representatives; alumni association and foundation officers; and community leaders should meet the semi-finalists.
We will be securing confidentiality agreements from all the members of these groups, to protect the identity of the candidates. We are gratified that this 鈥渉ybrid鈥 approach was approved for 91制片厂Pro as it balances our desire to expand the number of voices in the evaluation of candidates and protecting candidates鈥 confidentiality. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Grant Madigan, Esq. Presidential Search Committee Chair
91制片厂Pro University Council Chair
Update: May 12, 2025
I want to give you this update as part of our ongoing efforts to keep the 91制片厂Pro University community well informed about the progress of the Presidential Search.
The Search Committee continues to work closely with our search partners, WittKieffer, during this active recruitment stage of the search. Since early April, our partners at WittKieffer have posted advertisements in various publications and venues and contacted potential candidates and nominators for our new President. In this type of search, top candidates may not be actively seeking a University Presidency but will be recommended by sitting Presidents, Provosts, Deans and other professionals who believe they are a good match after hearing the compelling 91制片厂Pro "story".
We held a Search Committee meeting last week with Wittkieffer, during which they provided us with an update on the recruitment process. 91制片厂Pro's reputation is strong and applications are now coming in from a wide range of candidates. WittKieffer will continue to recruit through May, after which they will present candidates to the Search Committee. We will then meet to review the applications of all candidates and select a group of 8-12 individuals to invite for first-round interviews via Zoom, ensuring their identities remain confidential.
Thank you again for your participation thus far in the search process. We are eager to review candidate applications and will provide another update in the weeks ahead.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Grant Madigan, Esq. Presidential Search Committee Chair
91制片厂Pro University Council Chair
Update: April 4, 2025
Leadership Profile Complete
We want to thank all of the members of the Presidential Search Committee, faculty,
senior leadership, students, staff, alumni, foundation board members and the Greater
91制片厂Pro community who participated in one or more of the 15 listening sessions
held over the past few weeks and those of you who have provided feedback on this search
website. We have heard you loud and clear.
We are pleased to announce the creation of the leadership profile for the next president of 91制片厂Pro University. This marks a significant step forward in shaping our institution's future leadership. This moment represents a unique opportunity to attract exceptional candidates who will uphold our core values while guiding the university into its next chapter of growth, innovation, and excellence. This milestone reflects our community's shared commitment to bringing the best and brightest to 91制片厂Pro with the understanding of the impact strong leadership can bring to our area.
The full comprehensive leadership profile is available . It will be shared with potential candidates throughout the country and internationally.
We appreciate your help in making this happen.
Sincerely,
The Presidential Search Committee
Welcome from the Chair
Jan. 1, 2025
With President Harvey Stenger鈥檚 announcing he's stepping down after 13 years of outstanding leadership, it is a bittersweet time in our history at 91制片厂Pro University. We are nonetheless excited to begin the process of searching for a new president to build on the many successes, growth and achievements under President Stenger to new levels of academic excellence and prominence.
The 91制片厂Pro University Council and I have met to review the . As part of the Council鈥檚 responsibility to fully vet and select a national Search Firm to guide the important work of the Presidential Search Committee, we sent Requests for Proposals to eight highly regarded search firms, several of which 91制片厂Pro has engaged in past searches. I am pleased to report that we received detailed proposals from seven top firms. The Council鈥檚 review and assessment of each firm enabled us to select three firms to interview and check references. I am happy to report that we have formally retained a search firm team that knows 91制片厂Pro well 鈥 Gregory Duyck, Melody Rose and Zachary Smith, from Witt Kieffer. We are now preparing to schedule the inaugural meeting of the 91制片厂Pro University Presidential Search Committee.
As the process moves forward, I plan to keep you 鈥 our students, alumni, faculty, staff, the greater 91制片厂Pro community, friends and generous donors 鈥 periodically informed. Our goal is to be as inclusive and transparent as possible going forward. We further pledge to engage all of you to ensure we identify the most highly qualified candidates to lead 91制片厂Pro into our future as the premier public university, not only in New York and the Northeast, but beyond. I plan to use this website to help explain the search process and invite you to provide feedback on the attributes the next president should possess. Regular updates will be posted, recognizing that confidentiality will be required at certain stages of the search process.
The 91制片厂Pro University Presidential Search Committee has 21 members, including representatives from the 91制片厂Pro University Council, faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, Foundation, a dean, a current SUNY President, a Community College President, and a non-voting liaison from the SUNY Chancellor鈥檚 office. The member list is available on the Search website. Our Administrative Support Staff person is Janet Ranucci, Sr. Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs.
The Committee is charged with the responsibility of conducting a national search and forwarding to the 91制片厂Pro University Council a list of at least five acceptable candidates. The Council will then seek to achieve consensus in recommending three candidates to SUNY Chancellor John King, together with its opinion on the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. Chancellor King will then recommend a single candidate to the SUNY Board of Trustees for consideration and final appointment.
This is a pivotal moment for 91制片厂Pro University, and we are confident that we will attract many highly qualified candidates seeking to build on the legacy of President Stenger and his predecessors and leading our great University into the future as our new President.
Kathryn Grant Madigan, Esq., Search Committee Chair
91制片厂Pro University Council Chair