The Pivotal Choice for Governing Boards: Selecting the Right Chair for Your Institution's Presidential Search

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For any private, not-for-profit college or university, few decisions are as crucial as choosing its next president. This leadership transition serves as a defining inflection point – an opportunity to thoughtfully reaffirm your institution's philosophical core while recruiting the individual best suited to uphold those values and strategically guide your mission into the future.

At the heart of this momentous endeavor is one of the first and most significant choices your governing board will make: who will chair the presidential search committee? This isn't just an operational decision but a profoundly philosophical one that establishes the intellectual foundation for your entire search process.

The right search chair can deftly navigate group dynamics, align diverse perspectives, and ensure you identify a president who embodies the principles and innovative spirit upon which your independent institution was founded. So, how would your board think about this pivotal selection?

Ensuring Leadership Continuity

If your search chair is selected from among your institution's trustees, I would strongly suggest appointing the individual next in line to assume the board chair role. Timing this transition to coincide with your new president's start date provides critical leadership continuity.

The trustee who has intimately shepherded the search process is ideally positioned to partner with the incoming president from day one. This preserves invaluable institutional knowledge and promotes philosophical lockstep between the board and administration.

Moreover, as the leader who has just guided defining your presidential priorities, this individual naturally understands the strategic vision and core principles your next president was hired to uphold. They can immediately initiate productive dialogue anchored in a shared context.

From the new president's perspective, starting their tenure aligned with a board chair who led their recruitment allows them to hit the ground strategizing rather than spending precious initial months establishing fundamental rapport with new leadership.

This continuity becomes even more vital if your search surfaces an exceptionally bold, future-oriented vision requiring lockstep board-president execution from the outset. Sustained leadership unity is paramount if you're ushering in transformative curricula, updated scholastic identity, major strategic overhaul, or institutional renaissance.

Potential Paths:

• Identify the trustee next in line for board chair and vet their capacity to manage the complexities of a presidential search alongside their chair preparation.
• Consider electing a chair-in-waiting, grooming them by involving them in search committee leadership to ease their presidential partnership transition.
• In the absence of a predetermined board chair successor, select a trustee capable of serving an extended term as chair through and beyond the presidential transition.

Of course, there are exceptions where separating the search and incoming board chair roles is wise - instances of philosophical reset, reputational repair, or governing controversies where an entirely new leadership imprint is needed. But for most institutions upholding a proud academic tradition, prioritizing long-term leadership continuity ensures your new president spends their formative tenure rowing in lockstep with their governing partners, not cycling through protracted relationship building.

The Choice That Establishes Lasting Direction

Whether identifying a trustee able to provide consistent post-transition leadership or an external chair uniquely suited to navigate your distinctive scholarly identity and trajectory, investing deeply in this selection can't be overstated. An adept search committee chair lends legitimacy, impartiality, and values-anchored stewardship from which all subsequent hiring decisions and initiatives flow.

More than an operational role, your search chair provides the philosophical centerpiece for this pivotal process. The right leader serves as both ambassador for your defining principles and visionary scout for the president best equipped to uphold that singular mission. It's among the first and most lasting legacies an engaged governing board can create for their institution.

Robert (Skip) Myers, Ph.D., advises and counsels college and university governing boards and their presidents seeking to optimize and align their joint leadership performance.

Follow him at Robert (Skip) Myers, Ph.D.