Team seeks 5 finalists by Dec. for YSU president

By Harold Gwin

Semifinalist candidate interviews will be conducted in the Cleveland area in early December.

YOUNGSTOWN — A search team seeking the next president of Youngstown State University expects to have a short list of three to five finalists to present to the board of trustees by mid-December.

Scott Schulick, chairman of both the search committee and the board of trustees, said Nov. 12 is the official cut-off date for applications, but the committee intends to begin reviewing candidates much sooner. It will start looking over r sum s in late October and early November, he said.

YSU is looking for a successor to David C. Sweet, who is retiring in June 2010 after serving as president for a decade.

The trustees hired the Media. Pa., firm of Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates to assist in that process, and the consultant company, after meeting with various campus constituencies, has prepared a “Profile of the Institution and Position” to help guide the search.

YSU is paying Storbeck/Pimentel $109,250 for its services and will pick up the tab for candidate and consultant travel, advertising and more.

The Profile of the Institution and Position will be used in advertising as part of the recruitment process. It reviews YSU’s history, mission, governance, academics, facilities, budgets and more and focuses on key issues the new president will be expected to address. Those include envisioning the future to link YSU’s designation by the state as an urban research university with its ongoing education mission, providing both internal and external educational leadership, focusing on finances and fundraising, strengthening diversity and revisiting enrollment management.

It also offers a long list of both professional and personal qualifications the university seeks, ranging from a demonstrated ability to lead a complex organization in a period of change and new opportunity to being visionary and creative, and sustaining a sense of humor while carrying out the demanding role of the president.

Schulick said the search committee plans to have a list of eight to 10 semi-finalists identified by the first week of December. Those individuals will be invited to meet with the committee for interviews on Dec. 4 and 5 at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

From that list, three to five finalists will be selected for presentation to the board of trustees by its Dec. 16 meeting. The board will then invite the candidates it is interested in to visit campus for interviews.

The goal is to name a new president at the board’s March 12 meeting, Schulick said.

gwin@vindy.com