Senate says it lacks voice on presidential search committee

By Zoe Strozewski | Published by October 28, 2019

The University Senate has minimal representation on the Presidential Search Committee, the 13-member group appointed to recommend candidates for the 18th president of Kean University to the Board of Trustees.

The University Senate is the university’s “principal agency for the formulation of Kean University policy,” according to the Kean website. It represents all major constituencies of the university and makes recommendations to the President on matters regarding students, curriculum, faculty and finance.

The senate’s officers for the 2019-2020 school year consist of Chairperson Constance Hassett-Walker, Vice-Chairperson Brian Baldwin, Secretary Sue Gronewold and Patrick McManamon, who represents the Senate on the Kean Board of Trustees.

The only member of the presidential search committee who is also on the University Senate is Claire Mulry, a professor in Kean’s Department of Occupational Therapy. Mulry is tenure-track faculty and served as Senate chair last year. 

Margaret McCorry, Kean’s Director of Media Relations, said Kean has taken numerous measures to ensure that various groups have channels to share their thoughts on the search.

“The search firm, Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, met with both the University Senate as a whole as well as the Senate’s executive committee to solicit input on the selection of the next president,” McCorry said. “The firm already has received input from hundreds of stakeholders via the online survey and at meetings and forums on this campus, Kean Ocean and WKU in this open and transparent process.”

Hassett-Walker said at the Senate meeting in September that when she found out about the search, she reached out to Board of Trustees Executive Director Audrey Kelly to recommend senate members, including Mulry, for consideration for the search committee. However, the finalized search committee was announced in mid-September and Mulry was the only senate member selected.

The search committee was selected and is chaired by Board of Trustees Chairperson Ada Morell. Six of the 13 members are on the Board of Trustees. Besides Mulry, the committee also includes one other professor; two students; a Kean alumnae; a wealth advisor; and a CEO.

Morell said that she selected the search committee members “following consultation with various university leaders, stakeholders and constituents,” according to Kean News.

The Senate members discussed the idea of passing a resolution requesting more representation.

“We talked about sending it to the committee basically saying we’d like a seat at the table,” Hassett-Walker said.

McManamon questioned the idea of passing a resolution due to its possibility of being ignored.

“Resolutions are fine, but they’re pieces of paper,” McManamon said. “If we’re really serious about wanting to be part of the process, and this is really being part of the process, we need to be able to back this up. We represent virtually all the constituencies on campus, and I think that asking for one seat at the table, selected by this group, isn’t a big ask.”

He also stressed the overall importance of picking a reputable and qualified candidate as the next president.

“This is a really serious issue,” McManamon said. “The university’s continuation is really at stake. We need to get the right guy. As a representative of the university constituencies, we have as much of a stake in getting this right as anybody else.”

At the end of the meeting, members came to the consensus that they would reach out via email to request a meeting with Board of Trustee member Steve Fastook, who is the chair of the search committee.

The University Senate Vice-Chairperson Brian Baldwin declined a request to comment on rumors that their inquiry to meet had been denied, but the Senate did meet with the search firm. The composition of the search committee has remained the same as when it was initially configured.

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