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Update: November 10, 2008
Trustee Barry Phelps '69, P'96, Chair of the Search Committee

In late October, after an intense and highly engaged active search period that began in April and included numerous search committee meetings through spring and summer and indefatigable effort on the part of committee members and our search consultant, the Presidential Search Committee interviewed a number of candidates in multiple venues. Each and every candidate can be considered an outstanding leader and exciting prospective president of St. Lawrence University.  Our subsequent deliberations centered around the match between each candidate, the identified priorities of the University and the attributes we identified as desirable in our 18th president, all detailed in the Search Prospectus that has been a public document since May.

Since then, we have been hard at work to the path of making a recommendation to the Board.  The Search committee has completed an extensive reference process for a presidential candidate about whom we unanimously share enormous enthusiasm.  We are inviting this candidate to visit campus on Monday, November 17 and Tuesday, November 18. We are developing a highly inclusive schedule of meetings for this individual.  Your comments about this candidacy will be considered very carefully by the Search Committee at the conclusion of this visit, and you will have a Web link to submit your thoughts promptly. You may also share your thoughts with the campus members of the Search Committee.

Included in the schedule are three open sessions for campus groups as follows:

Monday, November 17          
4:00 p.m.        
Faculty Forum I
Hepburn 218

Tuesday, November 18
8:00 a.m.        
Forum with Administrative, Technical and Confidential Secretary Staff
Eben Holden

9:25 a.m.
Forum with Employees represented by CSEA, PCPSOA, and SEIU
Eben Holden

4:00 p.m.         Faculty Forum II
Hepburn 218

5:30 p.m.         Student Forum
Eben Holden

Permit me to recount for you the activities of the search that have brought us to this place:

-Our search consultant, Shelley Storbeck, and I conducted numerous meetings on campus with constituency groups, including trustees as you recall, to determine the qualities and attributes we desire in the next president.

-We actively sought nominations received from members of the campus community, the Board as well as other members of the larger national academic world.  Our marketing process included an email to all alumni and a postal mailing to all alumni, parents and friends of the University, paid advertisements in educational and trade media, and indefatigable networking and recruitment on the part of our consultant and members of the committee.

-The Search Committee met three times in spring and summer to review applications before deciding on a list of 13 candidates for the Search Committee to interview.

-After initial interviews with these candidates, we started reference calls. The committee met again before deciding the short list of candidates.

-The Committee interviewed candidates on the short list repeatedly and in multiple venues.  I do note that every member of the committee was involved at every stage.

-When a final candidate was selected we continued to vet his candidacy through another round of referencing that took place before the public campus visit.

-At all times and in all matters, we were deliberative in our decision making and took time to hear the voices of all involved (students, staff, faculty and the Board).

We are moving quickly now, but with great care.  I will provide more information as soon as I am able.  I recognize that November 17 and 18 will be very busy for faculty and students, in the days before the Thanksgiving Break, and I deeply appreciate your understanding that our schedule and pace are developed with the best interests of St. Lawrence at the center.  I also trust that your positive and warm welcome of our candidate will give evidence of the very special nature of the St. Lawrence community; for your graciousness and hospitality, the Search Committee thanks you.

Update: September 2, 2008
Trustee Barry Phelps ’69, P'96, chair of the Search Committee

My last communication on May 7 indicated that our next phase would be the active recruitment of candidates.   As I hoped, prospective candidates were most excited by the strength and character of St. Lawrence University, as presented in our Prospectus.  I hope you’ve had time to read it as well.

The search committee met in June and July to review credentials of candidates and nominees.  We were pleased with the number and quality of the initial group of candidates and all agree that we have a pool of candidates whose experiences and qualities provide excellent possibilities for the right person to become St. Lawrence’s next president.  As I outlined in our process calendar last spring, the committee has now selected a smaller group of candidates with whom we’d like to have further discussions; those discussions will take place over the next weeks, off campus.  We are very pleased that all who were invited for interviews have agreed to join us and we continue to be very impressed with the strength of the interview candidates’ credentials.

From this group could emerge as many as three finalists and the Committee’s recommended candidate would be one of those individuals.  The Committee’s intent is that we would bring our recommended candidate to campus for an open meeting with the community prior to making our recommendation to the Board.The ultimate goal is to enable the Board to name our next President by late 2008 or early 2009.

As always, I invite your questions and ideas. I’ll read emails sent to Barry.Phelps@verizon.net or you can send me your thoughts through the Presidential Search Web site. 

Update: May 7, 2008
Trustee Barry Phelps ’69, P'96, chair of the Search Committee

The Search Committee met on April 24 in Syracuse, NY, to review all ideas and suggestions heard so far in the many meetings and interviews that I, our search consultant Shelly Storbeck, and the two of us together, have had. Following our meeting, I have led a discussion among University trustees, through a conference call on May 6.  Here’s where we are.

Prospectus
Candidates for the presidency will look for our Prospectus, a document that is a detailed, but not comprehensive, synopsis of St. Lawrence, its philosophy, its governance and management structures, its functions, and its opportunities and challenges for the next president.  Our Prospectus was crafted thoughtfully by our talented communications department and our consultant, Shelly Storbeck, and her staff, using information gleaned from historical and other source material and on-campus focus groups plus one-on-one interviews. The Search Committee has reviewed three editions of the Prospectus, and their feedback has been incorporated throughout the document. All trustees also had the chance to review the document. We now have the document in the exact way we want it. We think that you and, we hope, our candidates, will enjoy reading the Prospectus and become excited about St. Lawrence University.

The Prospectus is posted to our Presidential Search Web site as a PDF document, and will be converted to a series of Web pages in the coming days.  I wanted you to be able to see the Prospectus as soon as possible.  It’s a great summary of a great University!

Recruitment
The next phase of our search for St. Lawrence’s 18th President is active recruitment of candidates.  As chair of the committee, I am keenly aware that we have big, big shoes to fill.  Dan’s leadership and commitment to this wonderful institution and community have been central to so many of the transformational initiatives we have undertaken at St. Lawrence over the past decade.  The search committee believes St. Lawrence is in an excellent position to attract another outstanding leader, and we seek your help in that process.  If you review the last pages of the Presidential Search Prospectus, you will be able to see how we are defining the characteristics we are looking for in our next president. 

After your review of the Prospectus, I invite you to share the names of potential candidates with our search consultants, Shelly Storbeck and Nell Booth, Storbeck / Pimentel & Associates, LLC, 1400 North Providence Road, Suite 6000 Media, PA 19063 .

Next Steps
The committee will meet next in June and July to review the curriculum vitae of our candidates.   By early fall, the Search Committee will select a group of candidates with whom we’d like to have further discussion.  From this group will emerge our finalists and the Committee’s intent is that we would hope to bring our recommended candidate to campus for an open meeting with the community prior to making our recommendation to the Board. The ultimate goal is to enable the Board to name our next President by late 2008 or early 2009.

My Invitation
Please send questions and ideas to me anytime. I’m a reliable email user at Barry.Phelps@verizon.net or you can send me your thoughts through the Presidential Search Web site. 

Update: April 16, 2008
Trustee Barry Phelps ’69, P'96, chair of the Search Committee

Introduction
I’d like to update the St. Lawrence community on the progress of the Presidential Search, after having been on campus for two days last week, April 7 and 8.  A central purpose of my visit was the convening of the Presidential Search Committee, announced on February 28; we held our first meeting April 8. Also attending the meeting were our Search Consultant Shelly Storbeck and her colleague Nell Booth, both of Storbeck-Pimentel.

Campus Meetings
Prior to the Search Committee meeting, Shelly and I also conducted a number of one-on-one and group meetings to gather additional perspectives.  Recalling the questions I posed to faculty, staff, students, alumni and trustees in February, Shelly and I asked about perceived strengths and challenges of the institution, aspirations for the next 7-10 years, and desirable qualities/characteristics for the next president.  As in February, we found our conversations stimulating, helpful and extremely productive.  Again and again I am impressed at the shared sense of confidence held by the members of the St. Lawrence community about its mission, purpose and culture.

Committee Meeting
When our committee met, we began by discussing the contributions we’ve gathered on these questions, the committee having had the benefit of summary materials prepared by our Search Assistant Judy Chittenden. We also devoted some time to brainstorming ourselves.  Ours was a very participatory session, and I extend thanks to the Search Committee members who have begun to work in such close collaboration.  Our committee reached consensus on one important goal for the search and that is our plan to cast our net as widely as possible for qualified candidates.  In practice, this means we will seek and welcome nominations from those in all professions, not just those in the academy. We do feel strongly that candidates must have a deep understanding of and passion for liberal arts education and understand the academic culture.

Next Steps in the Search Process
Certainly our position description and list of candidate qualifications will be more detailed than this; you will see the full description in early May, when we distribute the Prospectus and our public advertising process begins. As I mentioned in my February memo, our University Communications office has been working on a Presidential Search Web site, and that site now is live. We will be posting our Prospectus, advertising materials and search updates on this site. Additionally, we will provide candidates and others via the Web site information to help them learn more about the University.

Our summer months will be the time of active recruitment of a large pool of candidates.  By early fall, the Search Committee will select a group of candidates with whom we’d like to have further discussion.  From this group will emerge one-three finalists who will visit campus.  We will conduct visits in an as open and inclusive manner as possible. Keep in mind that our objective is to select the best fit between the University and our next successful president while also respecting the confidentiality needs of our finalists.  The ultimate goal is to enable the Board to name our next president by late 2008 or early 2009.

Let me elaborate on my statement about respecting the confidentiality of our candidates. The experience of our search consultants and of other universities' search committees is that if we seek to attract successful or current leaders at other institutions to our pool, many only will be willing to participate if the search process respects the confidentiality of their candidacy. They must honor their commitments to their current institution even as they explore the possibility of joining ours, and they would be loathe to subject their current institutions to public risk of instability.

A confidential process, if that is the path we must follow, also doesn't mean a closed process - it is one that limits the number of members of the University community who will meet the candidates, selecting a more representative group of students, faculty and staff to participate in interviews. The Committee will seek input from those who meet the candidates to aid us in developing our final recommendation to the Board.

Invitation to all Laurentians
I speak for all trustees in our invitation to all Laurentians to remain involved with the presidential search and you can assist us now by identifying potential candidates.  Please send questions and ideas to me anytime. I’m a reliable email user at Barry.Phelps@verizon.net or you can send me your thoughts through the Presidential Search Web site.  

Update:February 28, 2008              
Trustee Barry Phelps ’69, P’96, chair of the Presidential Search Committee

Introduction
This is the first in a number of regular communications that I will send over the next few months about the search for St. Lawrence’s next president.  As we begin this process together, let me thank everyone who already has, and who will, offer time and wisdom about this crucial matter.

As a St. Lawrence graduate, a trustee, and now as chair of the search committee for the next president of the University, I well understand the abiding desire for transparency and openness among all parts of our community. That is why I have so enjoyed talking with you and hearing your ideas.  And, your ideas are still welcome.

As search chair, it is also my responsibility to honor that desire in ways that also recognize the wishes and expectations of prospective and eventual candidates for the presidency.  When the Presidential Search Committee begins its review of materials submitted by candidates, we will then be in a closed phase. Until then, please be in touch with your thoughts, ideas and, above all, your nominations for potential candidates.

My memo today has five purposes: 

Presidential Search Committee membership

I am grateful to the following trustees, faculty, students, alumni, and staff who will serve on the Search Committee:

Trustee Chair Larry Winston ’60
Trustee Chair-elect Donald Rose ’64
Trustee Jeff Boyd ’78
Trustee Karen Bruett ’66
Trustee Jo Ann Campbell ’86
Trustee Shel Johnson ’68
Trustee Patrick Martin ’75
Trustee Elinor Tatum ’93
Professor of Government Alan Draper
Associate Professor of Gender Studies Danielle Egan
Hayward Associate Professor of Physics Catherine Jahncke
President of the Thelomathesian Society John Pontius ’10
Kristen Bednar ’09
Alumni Executive Council Member Steve Todd ’92
Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Terry Cowdrey

Associate Professor of Philosophy Erin McCarthy will serve as an alternate committee member should one of her faculty colleagues be unable to fulfill his or her responsibilities.

Appointment of a professional search consultant
In late fall, an ad hoc group of trustees and faculty interviewed several professional search consultant firms to assist us with our work. We were greatly pleased to find that the St. Lawrence presidential search is a coveted assignment and reflects the high regard in which our institution is held in the academic world.

 We have selected the firm Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, a minority and female owned executive search firm specializing in providing executive recruitment services to colleges, universities, independent schools and not-for-profit organizations.  Shelly Weiss Storbeck, (s.storbeck@storbeckpimentel.com) managing partner, will be our consultant.  A graduate of Dickinson College with her master’s degree from Bryn Mawr College, Shelly has conducted more than 400 searches for public and private universities, colleges and schools, and not-for-profit associations and organizations.  Among recent clients are Allegheny College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, Colby College, Colgate University, Bryn Mawr College, Smith College and Vassar College.  We felt she understands and loves the residential liberal arts environment that is our identity; we trust that over the next weeks and months, she’ll come to appreciate what makes St. Lawrence special and distinct among our peers.

Shelly’s role is to help us to identify prospective candidates who share our values, and who will be ready, able and thrilled to assume the St. Lawrence presidency, and to offer advice to the Search Committee in all steps of the process.

Review of the information-gathering meetings and search calendar
Shelly and I will return to campus the week of April 7 to continue the discussions that I’ve begun with faculty, staff, students, trustees and alumni.  Throughout February, I’ve met with about 150 people in 15 meetings, asking three central questions:

            What are the strengths and challenges of St. Lawrence University?

            What aspirations do you have for St. Lawrence over the next decade?

            What characteristics will you most seek and value in our next president?

When we return in April, Shelly and I will continue to engage the campus in this dialog; we imagine that our initial meetings are prompting lots of good discussions and we want to benefit from the continued reflections that you have.  All the information from these many meetings will be shared with the Search Committee.

The result of our many meetings will be a prospectus, a “requirements document” that will describe the St. Lawrence presidency and the University community’s hopes and expectations for its next leader. This document will, we hope, generate great enthusiasm among prospective candidates.  All of you who have met or will meet with us, or who offer your insights by written comments, will contribute to this document. So we hope you’ll share your thoughts through April.  We’ll share this document widely so we can cast the widest possible net for nominations.

Our summer months will be the time of active recruitment of a large pool of candidates.  By early fall, the Search Committee will select a group of candidates with whom we’d like to have further discussion.  From this group will emerge one-three finalists who will visit campus.  We will conduct visits in an as open and inclusive manner as possible. Keep in mind that our objective is to select the best fit between the University and our next successful president while also respecting the confidentiality needs of our finalists.  The ultimate goal is to enable the Board to name our next president by late 2008 or early 2009.

Appointment of an executive assistant to the search committee
The search committee is very fortunate to have Judy Chittenden as its executive assistant here on campus. Judy will facilitate our work in every way, and comes to her role after her recent retirement as director of development for Hospice of the St. Lawrence Valley.  Judy also has been executive director of the Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley, so she knows our institution and our regional heritage very well.  Judy has an office in the Student Center Room 328, and her phone is x5900, email jchittenden@stlawu.edu. We all appreciate Judy’s support and wisdom in this process.

Invitation to all Laurentians
I speak for all trustees in our invitation to all Laurentians to remain involved with the presidential search.   A public Presidential Search Web site will be up and running very soon (we’ll let you know when it’s ready), and communications will be emailed and/or postal mailed at appropriate times.  Additionally, both Shelly and I welcome and seek your nominations of potential candidates for our next president. 

Please send questions and ideas to me anytime. I’m a reliable email user at Barry.Phelps@verizon.net.  I welcome your insights.

Presidential Transition Planned
October 10, 2007
Chair of the Board of Trustees Lawrence J. Winston

President Daniel F. Sullivan has in a variety of venues been speaking informally, but with characteristic candor, about his plans to retire on June 30, 2009.  I write today to confirm officially that that is indeed his intention in a plan that he and we on the Board of Trustees have been discussing for some months and which I will share with you below.

As you know, Dan Sullivan began his tenure as our president—president of his own alma mater—on July 1, 1996.  In recent years, trustees have come to call this past decade the “St. Lawrence Renaissance” because, working together, we truly have brought great new life to this place we love so much.  He’s the first person among us to see and articulate the goals and challenges we still have, but what others see is eleven years of transforming accomplishment.

Dan’s goal always has been to make the student experience as academically demanding, as inspiring, as serious of purpose, as the very best students would expect of us while also focusing holistically on the full residential and co-curricular student experience and its impact on students’ overall development.  His work with every constituency group has kept students and their education as the central focus. He has urged his colleagues on the faculty and staff to consider their work as a vocation, with the dedication, the focus and the energy that the word “vocation” implies.  Ann and Dan Sullivan together have themselves been dedicated, focused and tirelessly energetic in their vocation with us. Their home has become a place of real community, and their travels have brought them to Laurentians throughout the world.  As a team, there has been none better and both deserve our deepest thanks. 

There will, of course, be a time to be more detailed about all of this as we get closer to an actual transition, and there is work to do to fill big shoes.  So let me describe for you the major features of the search process we will undertake, a first communication of many in what I and the Board intend to be an inclusive process.

Trustee Barry Phelps ’69 has agreed to chair the Search Committee, and I express my thanks to him for what will be a very important and intensive assignment.  The Search Committee will include faculty, administrators, students and alumni, although we have not yet worked through the details of naming specific people to participate. We plan to have the Search Committee formed by the end of the fall semester.

We will work with a professional search consultant to build the pool of candidates, will interview potential consultants in October, and hope to name the consultant by the end of October.  I expect that one or more faculty leaders will join trustees in these interviews.

The work of the consultant and search committee will ramp up to full effort as the spring 2008 semester begins.  By the middle of the fall 2008 semester the committee will narrow its focus to one or more finalists who will visit campus for an intensive engagement with us.  It’s our plan for the Board to name a new president in the late fall of 2008, and President Sullivan will work with his successor, and with my own successor as chair of the Board, Donald Rose ’64, to achieve a smooth and effective June 30, 2009 transition.

Please join the Board of Trustees, and all Laurentians, in this first expression of gratitude to Dan and Ann Sullivan.  Please know that we will keep you apprised as the search progresses. Many thanks.