TO: The PLU Community
FROM: Susan Caulkins and Michelle Ceynar, Co-Chairs of the PLU Presidential Search Committee
RE: Report on the Search Process
Dear Campus Constituencies:
We are writing today with an update from the Presidential Search Committee. The Search Committee re-convened for our first meeting last week after summer hiatus to renew our commitment to confidentiality and review the process moving forward.
Over the summer months Korn Ferry, our school consultants, was quietly in the market talking to perspective candidates about the opportunity here at PLU. We advertised online in several higher education publications and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), including several that specifically target diverse groups such as Women in Higher Ed, Diverse Issuers in Higher Education, Hispanic Outlook, and the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education. Our advertisement was included in the large, academic year kick-off issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education in early September.
PLU’s outstanding Marketing and Communications team lead by Associate Vice President, Lace Smith launched a beautiful Presidential Search webpage for potential candidates to learn more about PLU and for community members to learn more about the search process. We encourage you to visit the site for previous updates, a timeline for the search and other information.
Our consultants tell us that PLU has a strong regional reputation and the candidates who may not know about us have been impressed when they learn more about our community. There have been many interested applicants and they continue to reach out to people in their networks and to those who have been nominated for the position. Paul Chou will be on campus next week to update the Board of Regents on the progress of the search as we move into the last couple months of building a strong pool of candidates. We hope to review applications and begin the process of narrowing the pool in December and to bring finalists to campus in early Spring semester.
As the search progresses, please be aware that members of the Search Committee cannot share detailed information about candidates, including the size of the pool, its diversity or verify whether a particular person has applied. This process is necessarily confidential to protect candidates who may not be sharing that they are applying for positions with their current institutions during these early stages.
Korn Ferry continues to encourage us to submit nominations. If you know someone who might be a good candidate, you can submit their name via a dedicated email account to gather input: plu-president@kornferry.com.
Please feel free to direct comments and concerns to the Presidential Search Committee through co-charis:
Susan Caulkins: scaulkins@dpearson.com
Michelle Ceynar: cerynarml@plu.edu