At a special faculty meeting on Tuesday, April 19, administrators and members of the Board of Trustees announced the anticipated timeline and process for hiring a new college president, as well as a change in leadership of the Board coming in October of this year.

The meeting, which was held in Rubendall Recital Hall over common hour, was convened to provide an update on the presidential transition following President Nancy Roseman’s April 11 announcement of her resignation, effective June 30, 2016.

At the meeting, Jennifer Ward Reynolds ’77, chair of the Board of Trustees, also announced that she will not end her eight-year term as chair this summer, as originally planned. Instead, she will extend her term as chair until October 2016, when Thomas Kalaris ’76 will replace her as chair.

Trustee Jim Chambers ’78, who will lead to presidential search committee, informed attendees that the process of hiring a new president is “not very far down the line yet.” In terms of a start date for the new president, Chambers says a January 1, 2017 start date is “aggressive” and that it will “probably be July 1 of next year.” In the mean time, Provost Neil Weissman will serve as interim president, effective July 1.

Chambers said that the short time goal is to have formed a committee by the Board of Trustees meeting on May 6.

The committee will be made up of 10 trustees, five faculty members, two students and two senior staff members. The senior staff members are a new addition compared to the make-up of the previous presidential search committee.

The next step will be to identify a search firm to help with the process. Chambers said that the college has already received “avalanches of interest” from prospective search firms. The firm they select will help create the profile of the school and a profile of the position to advertise on job boards.

Chambers hopes to have a firm chosen and the profiles done with the firm out searching for candidates by the end of the summer. He says “the goal is to have us looking at candidates in the fall.”

Chambers then invited attendees to share one-word characteristics that they hope for in the next president of Dickinson. Some of the words professors shared were: “fundraiser,” “transparent,” “leadership,” “visionary,” “personable” and “transformational.”

With this list as well as one solicited from senior staff, Chambers is “getting a sense of what the community wants and needs right now.” He says he wants to “use it right up front with the search committee and say that this what the community is looking for in a leader.”

Faculty members expressed their appreciation for Weissman and the Board of Trustees and made suggestions for the search.

“I urge you, please, do not allow an external view of the college to define the college. We have a sense of where we want to be…let them lead us to it,” said Professor of Music Robert Pound.

Other faculty members agreed with Pound that the college ought to be the party that defines its qualities and subsequent fit with presidential candidates.

“We are not an organization in crises,” said Michael Fratantuono, associate professor of International Business and Management. “The Board of Trustees and community deserves credit for recognizing we did not have a good fit between the leader and the community, and we responded quickly.” Fratantuono then asked Chambers to consider “what lessons may have been learned from the last search.”

Professor of Classical Studies Marc Mastrangelo said that Dickinson has a “faculty that is dedicated to this institution” who also “care a lot about making Dickinson move to that next level.”

Professor of Religion Mara Donaldson recommended not to “rush the process” and Professor of Art History Melinda Schlitt asked that the committee “keep an eye for search firms that specialize in higher-education.”

Similarly, Professor of Chemistry Cindy Samet hopes that the “end process” is as “vibrant as the beginning” of the search.

Associate Professor of English Jacob Sider Jost says that Dickinson is in the “position to attract a strong candidate.” He encourages the committee to look for someone “for who Dickinson is their first choice…[and] someone who doesn’t want to change us into something different, but make us the best we can be.”

Trustee John Jones ’77 was also in attendance and said he was “impressed” with the faculty and their “dedication and passion for this college.” He says he “appreciate[s] very much [their] input.”

Faculty members were asked to volunteer for the presidential search committee and the slate will be voted on at the May faculty meeting.

Vice President and Dean of Student Life Dean Bylander invited rising sophomores, juniors and seniors to apply in an email on Tuesday, April 19. Two students total from the classes of 2019, 2018 and 2017 will be selected. Applications are due by noon on April 29.