Following Brock Tessman’s departure from Northern Michigan University to Montana State University, NMU’s Board of Trustees is making progress in its search for a new president by employing the services of Parker Executive Search.
Parker Executive Search, an Atlanta-based firm, is well-regarded for its successful track record in conducting administrative searches within higher education. NMU has worked with the firm before, as they played a key role in facilitating Brock Tessman’s initial appointment.
According to Tami Seavoy, chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, the search process is moving forward smoothly.
“In my view, this is going extremely well,” Seavoy said. “We are on track, our committee is motivated and working hard and we expect to have several candidates to introduce to the university community at the end of September/beginning of October.”
To involve students in the selection of NMU’s next president, they will be given the opportunity to engage directly with each finalist.
“Students will have an opportunity to meet each of the candidates at the end of September/beginning of October and to provide their comments and observations to the Board of Trustees,” Seavoy said. “The board will bring each of the candidates back to interview, and then they will make the decision. The comments from the forums will be shared with the board before those interviews are held.”
As it is anticipated that not all students will be able to attend, the university offers more ways for students to voice their opinions.
“The visits at the end of September/beginning of October will include a student forum and a community forum. If a student is unable to make the student forum, they could, in the alternative, attend the community forum to meet the candidate,” Seavoy said. “The spring meeting was to voice ideas on qualities and characteristics that would be important in the next president. These upcoming opportunities are to voice whether these candidates embody the qualities and characteristics we seek.”
The feedback gathered from last spring played a key role in shaping the search.
“The spring meeting made it clear that the strategic plan “Our Compass” is something faculty, staff and students all support,” Seavoy said. “We are looking for a collaborative leader with the ability to develop and maintain professional relationships with all constituents, while making wise and thoughtful decisions that will guide this student-centric university through the current challenges of higher education and prepare NMU and our region for the future. It sounds like a very tough order to fill, but we have promising candidates.”
The Board of Trustees remains optimistic in this presidential search, excited to show the new candidates what NMU offers.
“These upcoming visits by the candidates are also our opportunity to let NMU shine – we want these candidates to aspire to the job of President of NMU,” Seavoy said. “The search firm has sought applications from people across the country and from beyond, and I hope we proudly show the candidates that this is a superior place to live and work. As I said at the convocation, I just hope we don’t get early snow and scare any of them off.”
