Presidential Search Launched

When Dr. Alan F. Harre announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, a plan prepared previously by the Valparaiso University Board of Directors to select the next University president was set in place.

The plan is divided into two stages: preparation and selection.

In the preparation stage, an ad hoc committee of five Board members, appointed by the chair of the Board of Directors, was charged with assessing the environment of higher education, gathering information about Valpo to share with prospective candidates for the presidency, identifying desired leadership characteristics and criteria, and determining competitive terms of employment.

The selection process will begin in late summer following appointment of a nine-member Search Committee. Composing the Search Committee will be:

• the five Board members who served on the ad hoc committee;
• two Valparaiso University faculty members;
• a representative of the Alumni Association; and
• a committed supporter of the University, who is not a member of the Board.

The two faculty members that will serve on the Search Committee will be selected by the chair of the Board of Directors from among four candidates nominated by the University’s Faculty Concerns Committee. The representative of the Alumni Association will be selected by the Board chair from among two candidates nominated by the president of the Alumni Association, and the committed supporter will be selected by the Board chair from among two candidates nominated by the chair of the Board’s Committee on Institutional Advancement.

Alumnus Fred Kraegel, a member of the Board of Directors for nearly 20 years, will serve as chair of the Search Committee. First meeting of the Search Committee is tentatively scheduled for July 27. Upon the recommendation of the Search Committee, a firm experienced in leading searches for chief executives may be hired to guide the search process.

Procedures adopted by the Board of Directors also allow for the creation of a Support Committee to be engaged as needed by the Search Committee during the search process. Membership of that group is to be composed of:

• two tenured faculty members selected from among four nominated by the Faculty Concerns Committee;
• two academic administrators, below the vice president level, selected by the academic deans;
• one student selected by Student Senate;
• one non-academic administrator selected by the chair of Board;
• one member of the University’s salaried or hourly staff selected by the chair of the Board’s Committee on Facilities and Campus Planning;
• the administrator of the University Guild or her designee.