Presidential search update: Spring break edition

Sue Sharpe, a member of the Western Washington University Board of Trustees and the chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, sent the following update to students, faculty and staff Wednesday afternoon, March 16:

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff of Western:

Today`s update is part of the WWU Board of Trustees` on-going commitment to keep the Western community informed with up-to-date information on our search for a new president for Western.

As I reported last week, the Board of Trustees are excited about the five candidates the Presidential Search Advisory Committee has recommended for further consideration to be the next president of Western.  We are very pleased that their recommendations align with the qualifications and criteria that were developed by the PSAC based on campus input from last fall and approved by the BOT. For a further understanding of the process over the last 6 months, please refer to the details on the presidential search website.

The Board of Trustees will be initiating its candidate review process this week and will continue into the first week of April. What we know about that process at this point is outlined below. Much depends on the desire of the candidates to continue to be considered in the process. 

• March 17-18: BOT special meeting to interview the five recommended candidates (off-campus).  This is the BOT initial interview with the five candidates and will be conducted in executive session.  No action will be taken.
• Week of March 28: BOT meeting (date yet to be determined) to continue review of qualifications of candidates (on-campus) with the goal of further discussion and selection of preferred candidate(s) in open session.
• Week of April 4: Preferred candidate(s) will be on campus to meet with student, faculty, and staff leadership.  After receiving feedback from those groups, the BOT will conduct a special meeting for action on the final selection of the next President. (Dates yet to be determined based on preferred candidates availability.)

We will be providing our next update when the campus returns from spring break on March 28th with details on the date and time of the board meeting that week. There will be no meetings or action taken during spring break week.

I thank each of you for your ongoing participation and support of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee and the Board of Trustees during this search process.  We have a great university that is highly appealing to our candidates and we look forward to the selection of the next great President of Western.

Enjoy your spring break.

Respectfully,

Sue Sharpe
Chair, Presidential Search Advisory Committee