Update 4 - November 9, 2006

As you know from previous reports of the Vice President for Academic Affairs search committee, the last phase of our recruitment effort includes an invitation to the finalist candidates to visit the campus. The search committee conducted interviews with a small group of candidates last week, and we have now identified three finalists. These individuals have been invited for campus visits on November 28-29, November 30-December 1, and December 4-5.

The purposes of these visits are two-fold. First, they will enable us to know the candidates better. Second, and perhaps more important, the visits will allow us to acquaint the candidates further with Skidmore and its constituents.

Throughout the search process, the committee has pledged to protect the identity of candidates. Obviously, we can no longer promise confidentiality to these finalists, but we urge you to bear in mind that each of them currently holds a significant position and any inquiries you feel obliged to make about them should be handled with sensitivity and discretion. Each candidate will be announced to the Skidmore community two days prior to his or her visit to campus; at that time, each candidate’s curriculum vitae and cover letter will be posted on the this web site.

In addition to the search committee's preliminary interviews with these candidates, we have had many confidential conversations with individuals who have worked with them and know them well. There is a strong consensus and enthusiasm within the search committee that these candidates are capable of providing effective leadership for Skidmore. The search committee will continue its work of reference checking in parallel with the final stages of the search.

In addition to meetings with representatives of the College’s various constituencies, we have scheduled a forum so that Skidmore’s faculty and staff members, as well as student leaders, can meet each candidate. The date, time, and location of these events will be noted in the written announcement of each candidate’s visit. We encourage all interested members of the campus community to attend.

Following your meetings with each of the candidates, response forms will be available, either near the meeting location or from Barbara Krause in the Office of the President; you also may download the form from here. We ask that you complete the form and return it to Barbara or to any member of the VPAA search committee by the end of the candidate’s visit to campus.

We are very pleased with the progress of the search and look forward to this final phase. Thank you for your continuing support and assistance.

Update 3 - October 20, 2006

We are writing to provide another update on the search for Skidmore’s next Vice President for Academic Affairs. The search committee met yesterday to select a group of semi-final candidates who have been invited to participate in confidential interviews with the search committee. These candidates were selected based on a careful review of their written submissions and on reference calls made by committee members and our consultant.

Upon completion of these confidential interviews, the committee will select final candidates who will be invited to participate in extensive on-campus interviews with all constituencies of the Skidmore community. We expect these campus visits to take place later in November or in early December. We hope that you will take the opportunity to participate in this stage of the search process.

As the Skidmore community is aware, Dr. Paula Newberg has resigned her position as Dean of Special Programs. Paula’s departure also leaves us with an administrative vacancy on the VPAA search committee. In response, the search committee deliberated and determined that it would be advisable to add a member of the administration who would be a direct report to the new VPAA. Phil Glotzbach shared the committee’s thinking this morning with CAPT to hear their advice regarding both the idea of adding a person and the committee’s opinions as to who might best be tapped. CAPT was supportive of the direction the search committee had identified. Following that consultation, Phil contacted Ann Henderson who graciously agreed to join us for the remainder of this process. Ann’s incomparable depth and breadth of experience at Skidmore (as well as with other such searches) makes her an ideal choice, and we are very appreciative that she is willing to take on this added responsibility.

Exactly 100 individuals have applied for the VPAA position, and the search committee is very pleased with the quality of the candidates. We will keep you informed regarding the campus visits, and we expect the search to reach a successful conclusion in December.

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support.

Update 2 - August 1, 2006

REVISED TIME FOR COMMUNITY FORUM

Please note a time change for the special community forum to be hosted by the VPAA Search Committee. The forum will be held in Gannett Auditorium from 3:00-4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 15, 2006.

Update 1 - July 11, 2006

The Vice President for Academic Affairs search is underway, and we are writing to provide a report on the search committee’s progress and plans.

The committee met in late May to plan the search with our consultant, Dr. Tobie van der Vorm from Academic Search Consultation Service of Washington, DC. Tobie also spent two days visiting with various members of the Skidmore community, which included conversations with many of you. We thank all of you who took time to assist the committee by sharing your insights. A copy of the resulting position profile is available on the Skidmore website http://hudson2.skidmore.edu/www/vpaa-search for any of you would like to read it or share it with others. The search committee encourages members of the Skidmore community and friends of the College to consider the characteristics outlined in the profile and to nominate strong candidates. Nominations should be forwarded to Tobie, who can be reached by phone at 202/263-7473 or by e-mail at ptv@academic-search.org. By nominating strong candidates, you can be directly involved in the search process. The search committee would very much appreciate your assistance.

We want to alert you now to a special community forum that will be held on Friday, September 15, 2006, from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium. Tobie and members of the search committee will be present to talk about the search process and to hear from community members. We hope that you will mark this event on your calendar and plan to attend.

Beginning now, and over the next few months, we will develop the candidate pool through nominations received from you, national education and foundation officials, other colleges and universities, friends of Skidmore, advertising in appropriate sources, and the work of our consultant. In early fall we will begin to narrow the candidate pool, moving toward a time toward the end of the year when interviews involving many members of the campus community will be held.

The search is off to a good start. We will write to you again as we enter subsequent stages of the process.

President Philip A. Glotzbach, Co-chair
Professor Mehmet Odekon, Co-chair