As FYP students scramble to find their textbooks and upper year students engage in quests for cheap ramen noodles, King’s is performing its own search.
It’s a complicated process that stretches back to last semester and won’t be finished for months: the search for a new president.
George Cooper, our current president, will be leaving King’s on June 30, 2016, ending his four-year tenure at the university and leaving an empty position on campus.
The King’s Presidential Search Committee, made up of professors, administrators, and students, aims to fill that void. In March, it polled the King’s community for their opinions about an ideal president’s qualities.
Over 100 people participated, through town halls, email consultations or personal meetings with the committee.
“It’s important to get input from everyone,” says Mary Martin, the chair of the committee.
While students left over the summer, the committee sifted through the suggestions and drew up a profile of an ideal candidate, stressing an academic background, willingness to participate in intellectual life at King’s, and the courage to be a “public champion of the university.”
After preparing the profile, the committee worked closely with Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette, a recruitment and human resource firm. The company fielded potential candidates, studying their backgrounds and determining if they met the requirements.
Now, as school starts up again, the committee will be ramping up their efforts. They will develop a shortlist of candidates, interview them, and narrow their selection down to two or three people.
These finalists will become known to the university, attending lectures and participating in campus life. They will learn about King’s while the community learns about them.
“We’ll take in feedback and make a decision,” says Martin.
“It’s probably the most important decision the committee makes,” Martin says.
