A Message from the Co-Chairs of the President Search Committee of the Board of Trustees
To The New School community,
Our search for a new president for The New School is moving forward. Since our March 15 message to the community, the Search Committee held its first meeting and laid some important foundations for our process. Our partners from the search firm, Spencer Stuart, are fully engaged and ready to assist us. We will benefit tremendously from Spencer Stuart’s deep experience with university leadership searches and their reach into broad networks of potential candidates.
In April, we will begin the first phase of our work together – to seek your input regarding the presidential profile. One of the chief ways we will do this is through a series of discussion forums with stakeholder groups including faculty, staff, students, the Board of Trustees, and alumni. The information gleaned during these important discussions will inform and guide our thinking as a search committee. Your perspectives will help the Committee to develop a position profile that reflects our shared aspirations for the future of the university.
In addition to meetings with the University Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, Student Senate, and Social Justice Committee, open sessions will be held for faculty, staff, students and alumni. There will be two open sessions that any member of the community can attend. Please watch for announcements about the dates, times, and locations of these meetings throughout April, and participate if you can. To prepare your thoughts, we ask that you consider the following questions:
- What makes The New School a distinctive institution?
- What do you see as the challenges and opportunities facing The New School and, therefore, our next president, in the five to seven years ahead?
- Bearing in mind your responses to the first two questions, what would you consider to be the most important capabilities and characteristics of our next president?
- What advice do you have for us?
We understand that many of you have busy schedules that may preclude your in-person participation. If that is the case, or if you are more comfortable sharing your thoughts in writing, we will also provide the opportunity to do so via a confidential survey. The link will be shared at the same time meeting dates are announced in our next message.
We thank you for your time and thoughtfulness in this important process.
On behalf of the Search Committee,
Joseph R. Gromek
Co-Chair, President Search Committee
Linda E. Rappaport
Co-Chair, President Search Committee