SU Presidential Search Committee to hold first meeting today

The Presidential Search Committee is holding its first meeting on Friday, Oct. 10, as part of Shippensburg University’s ongoing process to hire a new president, which began several weeks ago.

The 11-person committee was formed to outline the expectations of the candidates, create a timetable of the search, screen candidates, conduct interviews and report to the Council of Trustees on the process.

The committee is made up of three members from the Council of Trustees, an SU executive, two faculty members, two non-instructional members, one student, one alumna or alumnus and one president from another university.

Bloomsburg University President David L. Soltz is the consulting president.

Glen Grell, a member of the Council of Trustees, is the chairman of the search committee.

SU officials asked students, faculty, administration, leaders of various SU constituencies, members of State College and University Professional Association (SCUPA) and members of the community what five characteristics they are looking for in a new president, and what five challenges SU could face over the next ten years.

“The students I met with were insightful,” B. Michael Schaul, chairman of the Council of Trustees, said. “[We] do as much as [we] can to find out what people are looking for.”

The information gathered from the survey will be used to decide which candidates are best suited for the job.

It is important to focus on the presidential search without neglecting the current operations of SU, Schaul said.

“Our ship family believes we are running a business,” Schaul said. “You have to take care of the existing business.”

SU hired RPA Inc., an executive search and consulting firm out of Williamsport, to aid the committee in the search.

“We have a family that has brought forth candidates to the search firm,” Schaul said, stressing the importance the “ship family” has on the search.

Over the next several months the search committee will interview the candidates. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Board of Governors will conduct the final round of interviews between two candidates and select one of them.