University hosts town halls for presidential search
The Slippery Rock University’s Presidential Search Committee is seeking input as it conducts its search for a new university president.
Members of committee and RPA Inc., a West Virginia based company based hired to assist in the search, held virtual town halls Thursday to ask what should be included in the job announcement.
Current president William Behre is expected to retire in 2023.
SRU trustee and chairman of the Presidential Search Committee, Jeff Smith said the committee met with 10 to 12 different groups to get “as diverse an opinion” as possible. Representatives of RPA are to use some of the community’s comments in crafting a job listing.
“The search committee has done as much as they can to make people feel like they have a say in the process,” Smith said. “The reason we've been meeting with all the different groups — from the faculty to the students to the trustees to the alumni association (and) the staff — is to get, ‘What do you think the president would be addressing going forward and what are the challenges you see.’”
Thursday’s town halls included the SRU Alumni Association board of directors, the council of trustees, the SRU Foundation board of directors and community members.
Smith said he happy with a lot of the feedback and the amount of input the committee received Thursday.
“The quality of comments we've had has been really interesting, and it covers a pretty broad spectrum from financial, fundraising to diversity to community outreach,” Smith said. “All of those have been touched on, and they are all important, and the number of people who have stepped up has been good.”
John Press, IT compliance officer at SRU, sat in on the town hall meant for local residents Thursday. He said he would like a president who understands the university’s culture.
“I think they need to be dedicated and driven,” Press said. “I think they need to understand the Slippery Rock community and be willing to go and fight for that community.”
Press also said he would like a university president to be willing to participate in legislative initiatives that relate to higher education, and also to be a voice to advocate for improvements to the state system of universities.
“Higher education is not business, but it is,” Press said. “They need to understand all the nuances with bargaining units.”
According to Smith, the search committee will soon release a job announcement for president, and the university will likely host town halls again once some candidates for the position have been selected.
