After current Juniata College President Thomas Kepple announced his retirement last April, the search immediately started to find his successor. Kepple, who began his tenure in 1998, will leave office after the spring 2013 semester. Therefore, the Board of Trustees has privileged the presidential search committee to fill this void by the fall of 2013. Within this group is a multitude of staff and faculty members, trustees, and one student. Senior Rob Strauss is the liaison between students and the search process. Strauss talked about the process and his role in determining part of Juniata’s fate.

Q: How did you get selected to help with the presidential selection process? Why is students’ input important?

A: Back in September of 2011, I was approached by the Dean of Students office to represent the student body as the only student representative on the presidential search committee. I was honored to be selected and was eager for the opportunity. The students’ input is important because in my eyes, they are the heart of the institution, especially Juniata College. Here at Juniata, students play a huge role in shaping the culture, and it is crucial for the students’ voices to be heard.

Q: What is your role in the process?

A: My role in the process is to be the liaison between the search committee and the entire student body. I am responsible for planning the student forums, gathering input, and relaying the feedback to the rest of the committee. As a standing committee member, I am 100 percent involved in the process as a whole. I screened candidates, reviewed resumes, conducted interviews, and am now facilitating the on-campus visits.

Q: What are key characteristics Juniata is looking for in the new president?

A: In the job profile that was developed in the information-gathering phase, with the help of the Juniata community, the search committee came up with various characteristics that we’d be looking for in the new president.  Some of the characteristics, in no particular order, include:

• Commitment to Juniata’s mission
• Global perspective
• Fundraising capabilities
• Financial acumen
• Comprehensiveness in planning
• Approachability
• Comfortable with change
• Uniting a community around the educational mission
• Inspire the pursuit of excellence
• Transparency
• Informed decisiveness
• Visibility
• Passion for diversity

Q: What are the steps in acquiring a president that JC has already completed?

A:

• Fall 2011, retained the services of Dr. R. Stanton Hales, senior consultant for Academic-Search, Inc.
• January 2012 information gathering phase – met with more than 200 members of the campus community
• Job profile completed in April
• Recruiting Period May 1 – August 22
  • Robust pool of 72 candidates from wide variety of backgrounds
    • Pool included:
    • Several current and former presidents,
    • Academic leaders
    • Candidates with non-traditional leadership backgrounds
    • August and early September – Screening of candidates resulted in narrowed pool of 16
    • Mid-September – conducted reference checks
    • Sept. 28 – Selected 8 semi-finalists for neutral site interviews
    • Oct. 19-20 – Neutral Site Interviews
    • October 31- November 16 – On-Campus Interviews
    • Nov. 30 – Prepare Recommendation to Board
    • Dec. or Jan. – the BIG announcement!

Q: Can you explain the remaining process?

A: The remaining process is the on-campus visits for the final four candidates. Once the visits are complete, the search committee will meet on November 30 to prepare our recommendation for the Board of Trustees. Once we have made a decision, we will propose the candidate for approval to be the next president of Juniata College.

-Seth Ruggiero ’14 Juniata Online Journalist