Presidential Search Committee - July 2022 Updates
The Presidential Search Committee (PSC) is committed to sharing pertinent information with the community throughout the process to identify the twentieth president of the College. We are writing now to share some summer updates.
Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,
We are currently in the middle of the listening and learning phase of the presidential search. We have held sessions with dozens of students, faculty, trustees and alums to hear their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges facing our twentieth president, and the skills and expertise the successful candidate will need to navigate them. Staff sessions will be held next month, after our nine- and ten-month staff have returned to campus. Over the next few weeks we will be developing the position profile, and a formal call for nominations will be posted in August.
Several community members have asked whether there will be an opportunity to meet with the prospective candidate or candidates at some point. Candidates in college and university presidential searches expect their participation to be kept confidential until they accept an offer. Most will not agree to continue their candidacy if the process requires them to engage in open forums or other broad campus community gatherings. In order to ensure a successful search, only the PSC members will meet with candidates. We are confident that the committee, composed of students, faculty, staff, alums and trustees, will be able to evaluate candidates from the perspectives of our different constituencies.
The PSC is tasked with evaluating candidates based on the position profile and information gathered during the listening and learning phase. Your perspectives are invaluable to the process. We thank all who have participated in listening sessions and the survey so far. If you haven’t shared your input yet, we hope you will join a listening session or complete the online survey. To register for a session, please visit the College’s Presidential Search page. Please note that the date of the general listening session for all constituents has changed from September 13 to September 14 from 12–1 pm. The online survey will be available for all constituents until September 15. Further, if you wish to submit specific candidate ideas now (or in the future), please be in touch with our search team at Isaacson, Miller.
On behalf of the PSC, we thank you for your engagement as we seek to attract a stellar leader for Mount Holyoke College.
Sincerely,
Mona Sutphen ’89
Chair, PSC
Anne McKenny ’79
Vice-Chair, PSC