Presidential Search Update

October 26, 2023

The Board of Trustees of Illinois State University (the "Board") has been entrusted with the selection of a president for the university. The Board considers this one of, if not, its most important responsibilities. The legal authority to appoint ISU's next president is vested in the Board by legislation passed by the General Assembly of the State of Illinois (the "Illinois State University Law") and its governing documents. In accordance with the Illinois State University Law, it is the Board's power and duty "[t]o employ, and for good cause, to remove a President of ISU."

The Board has confirmed its intention to hold an open search for Illinois State University's next president. The Board notes this includes announcing finalists, providing an opportunity for community engagement with the finalists and soliciting feedback on finalists before the Board makes its final decision. To that end, the Board is excited to share some important updates.

First, in accordance with the Board's authority under the Illinois State University Law and its governing documents, a representative body of faculty, staff, students, representatives from university related organizations and trustees will be selected to identify qualified presidential candidates and recommend persons for consideration as finalists to the Board. Board Chair Kathryn Bohn, M.D. will serve as chair of the presidential search committee. She will be joined by the other trustees on the committee. The rest of the committee will be named soon, and we look forward to sharing that information with our campus community.

Second, the Board is looking forward to working in collaboration with Parker Executive Search ("PES") as the external search firm to assist in the presidential search process. PES's higher education search practice is one of the most highly regarded in the country, providing services to both public and private colleges and universities to aggressively recruit academic leaders. PES has conducted more than 500 successful higher education searches for chancellor, president, vice president, provost, dean, and director positions.

Third, the Board is working to develop a timeline and process for the presidential search after receiving feedback from campus partners, PES and reviewing prior presidential searches. The process and timeline will be finalized by the Board based on further Board discussion and input, and once the presidential search committee is formed.

The search committee chair, as spokesperson for the committee, will provide timely status reports to keep the campus community informed of the search's progress via a website dedicated to the presidential search. The website will be used to provide details of the search process, identify key milestones, share announcements and identify dates and times for listening sessions and other ways in which the community can provide feedback about the presidential search. This will help ensure transparency of the process and board and community engagement and participation. We pledge to listen carefully to community input and look forward to working with the Redbird community in finding the right person to lead the university in the years ahead.