Update on Presidential Search Process

Dear Purchase College Community,

I am pleased to provide you with an update regarding the College’s presidential search. We spent much of the late fall semester and the early part of this year reaching out to multiple constituencies on campus – over 20 meetings with faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni, local business leaders and political leaders.

Over the course of the last few months, we advertised the position and aggressively contacted over 500 prospective candidates for this position, and to date, we have received and reviewed credentials on approximately 90 individuals. The candidates represent a very diverse pool of leaders within and outside of higher education, including sitting and former Presidents, Vice Presidents and Deans.

In February and again in March, the Committee met to conduct preliminary screenings of prospective candidates and to identify individuals for face-to-face interviews. The committee will be embarking up a series of first round interviews over the next few weeks. Of the total applicant pool of approximately 90 candidates, the committee focused its review on the top applications and narrowed the group to a smaller group with whom the committee will interview over the next few weeks.

When we began this search, the College Council and the Chancellor’s office agreed to proceed with a representational search process. This process has been used in most of the recent SUNY Presidential searches and was used during the last Purchase College Presidential search. Using SUNY’s guidance for this type of search, members of the Purchase College Council and other designated members of the Purchase College campus community will be invited to meet with the semifinalist candidates under strict rules of confidentiality. Confidentiality is vital to this model to retain the selected candidates. The structure and makeup of the Presidential Search Committee ensures that all areas of the university have a voice in the process. This process is specifically designed to attract and maintain a strong, robust, and diverse applicant pool. We are committed to ensuring our institution’s strong leadership continuity, and we see this transition as a crucial step toward achieving that.

The Presidential Search Committee and a selection of other campus constituents will confidentially meet with the finalists. We expect that those meetings will take place in mid-April. The Presidential Search Committee will meet to review feedback from the final interviews, as well as feedback from references, and together will weigh the merits of each of the finalists.

Based on the final report from the Presidential Search Committee, the Purchase College Council will vote to recommend three finalists to the chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trustees. The chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trustees will meet with the three finalists, the chancellor will make his recommendation to the SUNY Board of Trustees, and the trustees will vote to choose our next president.

We thank you for understanding that the best candidates require confidentiality and that the committee members have all agreed to abide by this rule.

Thank you for your support, as we move forward with this important search.

Dennis Glazer

Chair, Purchase College Presidential Search Committee

Chair, Purchase College Council