Presidential Search Firm Seeks Feedback from Campus Community

By Erin McGuinness | Published by October 24, 2019

The search for Kean University’s 18th president might not be the open, transparent process many campus constituencies urged during last month’s public Board of Trustees meeting. 

Consultants from Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, the search firm hired to work closely with the Presidential Search Committee, have been meeting with various groups to discuss any questions, concerns and suggestions the university community has on the ongoing search. 

The consultants will relay the information to the 13-member search committee, who were selected by Board Chair Ada Morell, a vocal supporter of President Dawood Farahi. The search committee members will not meet or speak directly with any constituency;  each signed confidentiality agreements, according to the consultants. 

The Board of Trustees makes the final decision and is not technically required to choose one of the search committee’s recommendations, said Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates partner Ruth Wood.

Wood and associate Lindsay Allison addressed the Faculty Senate Oct. 8 to gain feedback on three key questions: what opportunities are at Kean, what challenges would a new president face, and what kind of president is the faculty hoping for. 

Despite many faculty members voicing their desire for the search process to remain open, the consultants said the process will remain closed to protect the privacy of candidates for the job. 

Many candidates that the search firm will be recruiting are ones who are employed elsewhere and are unwilling to go public with their interest in a new position, Wood said. 

“We talk at length about confidentiality with our search committee, because it really is the ticket to getting good people to agree to be in our process….” Wood said. “From our experience, we lose the best candidates if they can’t be assured of confidentiality throughout the process.”

Faculty Senate members voiced concern about the lack of faculty on the Search Committee, where only two members are serving. 

Best practices suggest that the board is the dominant constituent on the committee, Wood said. 

However, at Rutgers University, where president Robert Barchi will also be stepping down at the end of this school year, faculty is the dominant constituent represented on the presidential search committee, according to Rutgers Today. 

“I wouldn’t raise a red flag in terms of what we see at other institutions in terms of board composition,” Wood said. 

Faculty requests included a general agreement that the next president should be recruited from out of state to avoid any political ties; expand academics instead of the university’s facade; and focus on having more tenured faculty. A desire for a president that can communicate with the campus faculty and build a sense of unity throughout the community was strongly conveyed. 

The first of two open forums at the Union campus took place Oct. 15, drawing a crowd of about ten people, three of which addressed Wood and Allison. All campus constituencies and interested parties were invited to register to speak or attend. 

The purpose of the open forums is to “provide opportunities to share thoughts, input and insights on the qualifications and the characteristics that will define the successful candidate for the presidency,” according to an email sent to all faculty, staff and students. 

A forum was held at Kean Ocean and a video session was scheduled with Wenzhou-Kean community members. 

After a series of meetings to gain information on the campus community’s wants and concerns, the consultants from the firm will begin recruiting a large pool of candidates to be discussed with the search committee. 

Through a series of private meetings, the pool will be widdled down until the committee is ready to make their suggestions to the Board of Trustees. 

While the process will still be closed to the public in the end, Wood said it is very likely that the final candidates will want to meet with various campus community members. Those that get a chance to meet the candidates will be required to sign confidentiality agreements, she said. 

“If we get to an end-stage where our finalists are okay with that (an open search process), we will talk about a different kind of approach,” she said. 

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