WWU Trustees select Sabah Randhawa as preferred candidate for Western president
The Western Washington University Board of Trustees today named Oregon State University Provost and Executive Vice President Sabah U. Randhawa as the preferred candidate in their search for Western’s president.
Randhawa’s selection comes at the end of an exhaustive national search with an exceptionally qualified and diverse pool of candidates, said Karen Lee, board chair. Randhawa was chosen as the preferred candidate among five finalists. He impressed the trustees with his commitment to diversity and inclusion, shared governance, strengthening students’ academic experience and closing the achievement gap.
“Dr. Randhawa is a person of character,” Lee said. “He is quietly strong, with dignity, humility and humor. He doesn’t rush to judgement, but is a man of action.”
Bruce Shepard is retiring June 30 after eight years as Western’s president.
Randhawa currently serves as Oregon State University’s provost and executive vice president. As the university’s second ranking administrator, Randhawa is both the chief operating officer and chief academic officer, reporting directly to the president.
“I am honored and excited to be considered as the preferred candidate for president at Western Washington University,” Randhawa said, adding that he was “impressed by the achievements and focus on student success and collaboration at Western. Those align well with my own values and passion for higher education.”
In his position at OSU, Randhawa provides intellectual leadership to the entire university. The responsibility includes oversight of functions that enable success of the academic enterprise, including faculty and student services, information technology services, research and graduate program administration, and activities and services related to extension and distance and continuing education. He also is responsible for the university’s budget planning and for continuing the development and implementation of the university’s strategic plan. Learn more about Randhawa at Western’s President Designate website.
Randhawa earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1976 from the University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan. He earned his master’s degree in industrial engineering from OSU in 1980 and his doctorate from Arizona State University, also in industrial engineering, in 1983.
Previous to becoming OSU's provost, Randhawa was vice provost for academic affairs and international programs at OSU from 2001 to 2004. He was interim dean of OSU's College of Business from 2001 to 2002. Prior to that, he was associate dean for operations in the OSU College of Engineering from 1999 to 2000 and department head of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from 1993 to 1999
Randhawa impressed members of the PSAC with his focus on student success and his interest and understanding of issues related to diversity and inclusivity on campus, said Trustee Sue Sharpe, chair of the search committee. The more they learned about Randhawa, the more they learned about the respect he engenders from the academic community and beyond, she said. “The foundation of Sabah’s work, every step of the way, is a commitment to shared governance,” Sharpe said, “working with students, faculty and staff for issues to be brought to the table and for all voices to be heard.”
The quality of students’ academic experience is at the core of Randhawa’s decisions, said Trustee Chase Franklin. Randhawa is known for believing “higher education should be centered around student advancement, that everything flows from that,” Franklin said.
Randhawa also described himself as an “international,” said Student Trustee Seth Brickey, and said bringing a global perspective to higher education is a priority for Randhawa, which matches Western’s goals as well.
Randhawa will be invited to campus next week to meet with student, faculty, and staff governance leadership and members of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee (PSAC).
After receiving feedback from those groups, the trustees will conduct a special meeting next week to vote on Randhawa to be the 14th president of WWU.
Lee said the vetting process will continue next week, along with contract negotiations with the trustees. The trustees will meet during the week of April 4, to vote on Randhawa’s appointment.
After President Shepard announced in June 2015 that he will retire as president of Western at the close of the 2015-2016 academic year, the trustees set in motion a national search for the new president. They selected members of the university’s 15-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee, chaired by Trustee Sharpe, to reflect a broad cross section of the Western community both on and off campus, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, friends and other stakeholders.
The search process actively sought feedback, with 25 listening sessions and stakeholder meetings on and off campus. An online survey drew in 645 responses, with the most responses from students. The committee, working with search consultant Greenwood/Asher & Associates, selected a group of 18 candidates for first-round interviews, from an initial pool of 75 applications. Based on those interviews and reference checks conducted by the PSAC and the consultants, the PSAC unanimously recommended five finalists to the trustees for their final consideration. The candidates were all screened and evaluated using the preferred qualifications and criteria developed by the PSAC and approved by the trustees, based on the listening sessions and surveys. For further information about the search process, please see the presidential search website.
Audio from the Board of Trustees' meeting on Thursday is available here:
