The Search Committee continues to be very optimistic and confident of a timely and successful search.
Board Chair Richard DeVore and other board and search committee members began the search process in earnest in January by holding numerous campus input meetings, to listen to faculty, staff, students and others about their desired priorities and characteristics for Oakland’s next president.
Academic Search consultants Jessica Kozloff and Bill Howard attended all of those meetings and conducted further campus due diligence meetings. A full leadership profile was then developed, and advertisements were placed in specialized and diverse publications targeted to higher education leaders, all as approved by the Search Committee. Academic Search supplemented that advertising by its outreach to thousands of professionals via email and phone calls, seeking applications, nominations or expressions of interest. They used their personal and firm networks to speak with many nominators, prospects and candidates directly.
February 24th was the preferred application deadline, and our consultants recruited over 60 highly qualified candidates for consideration by the search committee. The pool of applicants includes many exceedingly accomplished leaders in higher education, including substantial numbers of current or former higher education presidents/chancellors, provosts, other vice presidents, and deans, among others. Other greatly accomplished leaders from government, nonprofit and business backgrounds with higher education experience have also been attracted to this opportunity. The applicant pool includes very diverse individuals, in public and private higher education, and from a wide variety of positions and backgrounds, including both traditional and less traditional pathways to a university presidency. The applicants range across the country, and many of them have ties to the greater Detroit or Michigan areas. The interest in this position is a testament to the quality and reputation of Oakland University and its growth and future opportunities.
The search committee has begun its review of candidates, and is confident that there are many applicants with distinguished careers who will inspire the respect of the academic community and other stakeholders at Oakland University. The search committee expects to conduct confidential off-campus interviews with a select number of candidates by about the end of this month. The search committee and board are still planning to schedule full on campus visits and open forums for the finalists in April, and those dates will be published in advance of the visits.
Information is available on our website at https://www.oakland.edu/bot/president-search