The profile and position announcement for the next West Chester University president was finalized on Wednesday, Oct. 10 by the Presidential Search Committee and representatives from RH Perry and Associates.Both the profile and advertisement were approved by the committee and chancellor Judy Hample.
According to the WCU website, the search firm has sent the announcement for publication to appropriate locations, and they have begun to recruit candidates for the position.
The announcement for the next president states that WCU is looking for a president who will be “a strong, visionary, entrepreneurial leader who will continue the institution’s positive momentum and is student centered.” Other qualities that were mentioned in the announcement were having both “academic and senior administrative success, understanding facility and strategic planning/budgeting, promotes and celebrates diversity and empowers others through transparent communication, collaborative management and shared governance.”
The announcement is a smaller, briefer version of the created profile. Both documents describe WCU as an academic institution and the opportunities and accomplishments WCU has made. Along with that, they both include information about current WCU President Dr. Madeleine Wing Adler.
The profile describes what the role of the president entails. In the beginning of the profile, it states that the opportunity for the next president is to “build upon the university’s solid foundation of overall excellence and to lead the institution to new heights in shared governance and exciting new strategic directions.”
There are full descriptions of the university, along with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and a background of Adler in the profile.
The challenges of being president of the university were thoroughly outlined in the profile. A few of the challenges include: “making student success the university’s defining characteristic by promoting high retention and graduation rates, student involvement in campus life, integration of academic and co-curricular programs and the cultivation of life-long learners, building a relationship with the incoming Chancellor of PASSHE, giving priority attention to the new master plan for replacing older student housing,” and encouraging more dialogue and constructive interaction between the region and the university community.
There are quite a few qualifications to become the president of WCU. The future president should: “hold an earned doctorate from an accredited university, be an accomplished academic that has significant senior administrative experience, possess knowledge and/or expertise in facility and strategic planning/budgeting, human capital development and technology, be experienced in external relations, fund raising and government relations, demonstrate excellent communication skills in speaking, listening and writing, enjoy interacting with all stakeholders; and value student interaction.”
Dr. Bernard Carrozza, chairperson for the Presidential Search Committee, said that the committee and representatives worked for approximately three hours to have the profile the way the community wanted it.
According to Carrozza, the profile was created based on the two-day conference that occurred on Oct. 2 and 3 where West Chester community members spoke out to the committee about what qualifications and traits they believed the next president should have. Based on those two days, the committee came up with an initial profile. From there, the committee members, along with the representatives from RH Perry and Associates, went through the initial profile item by item, focusing on the language of the text to make sure it sounded exactly how they wanted it to.
The committee members were all of the same mind frame going into the profile, and the decisions for the document were reached unanimously, according to Carrozza.
“The committee members should be commended for their working diligently,” Carrozza said.
“Everyone focused, and they did a great job, especially with getting the profile done in less than three hours.”
For candidates to be considered for the position, they should e-mail a cover letter that addresses the challenges and qualifications listed in the profile, a current resume and the names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of three references to matt@rhperry.net. Applications are due by Dec. 4, 2007.
According to the WCU website, the committee will begin review applicants in mid-November and at their Dec. 5 meeting, they will start the discussion of potential interview candidates.
To read the presidential search profile or announcement, or to read the latest updates on the search for the next WCU president, check out the Presidential Search link on the WCU website.
Amanda Tingle is a third-year student majoring in English education with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at AT610629@wcupa.edu.