SUNY-ESF continued the search process for its next president with two campus forums for faculty and staff members, held last week. Forums for students, as well as another forum for staff, are planned for next week.

The two forums for faculty and staff members held during Spring Break were well-attended, and provided an opportunity for community members to voice their opinions about what they would like to see in the next State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry president, said Vita DeMarchi, chairwoman of the ESF Board of Trustees and co-chair of the presidential search committee.

There are three open forums scheduled for next Tuesday, including the first student forums. An open forum for faculty members will be held from 10-10:45 a.m., and two open forums for students will be held from 11-11:45 a.m. and from 2-3 p.m. All of the forums will take place in the Alumni Lounge in Marshall Hall.

The search committee decided to add another opportunity for faculty members to share their thoughts because of the large response it received at the first faculty forum and because some faculty members were away from campus last week, DeMarchi said.

ESF President Cornelius Murphy announced in December he would step down within a year.

Murphy has been president for 13 years, so faculty and staff members spent much of the forums reflecting, sharing and commenting on what makes ESF special and what aspects of his leadership they want to continue and improve, DeMarchi said.

One of the common threads in all of the forums was a focus on the future, DeMarchi said, and many ESF community members agreed the next president should be “forward-looking.”

While many ESF community members are sentimental about Murphy’s departure, DeMarchi said the college needs to look to the future.

“We are not going to replace Murphy,” DeMarchi said. “We are going to find the next president.”

The presidential search committee will continue with the campus sessions, then use the input to build a presidential profile. The committee will interview candidates during the summer and hopes to select the next president by the end of the year, DeMarchi said.

Members of the search committee met to start the presidential search process March 5. The committee is chaired by DeMarchi and William McGarry, the outgoing Board of Trustees president, according to ESF’s website.

The four board representatives on the search committee are DeMarchi; McGarry; Daniel Fitts, former chairman of the board; and Matthew Marko, vice chairman of the board.

The six college faculty representatives are Susan Anagnost, chair of the sustainable construction management and engineering department; Gregory Boyer, chair of the chemistry department; Valerie Luzadis, chair of the environmental studies department; Lindi Quackenbush, associate professor of environmental resources engineering; Kimberly Schulz, associate professor of environmental and forest biology; and Timothy Toland, associate professor of landscape architecture.

The professional and support staff, academic deans, students, alumni association and the college foundation all have one representative each. These representatives are Maureen Fellows, director of government relations and institutional planning; Donald Leopold, chair of the environmental and forest biology department; Aislinn Brackman, a senior paper engineering major; Preston Gilbert, president of the ESF Alumni Associationl; and Larry Leatherman, president of the Museum of Science and Technology, respectively.

Central SUNY administration also has three staff members on the committee. Timothy Killeen, president of the research foundation for SUNY and vice chancellor for research at SUNY System Administration, represents the SUNY chancellors’ senior staff.  Bob Kraushaar, associate provost and associate vice chancellor for faculty and professional development, and Lee Riddell, chancellor’s liaison for presidential searches, represent the SUNY chancellors’ office. Kraushaar and Riddell are ex officio members of the committee.

The firm Storbeck Pimentel & Associates is also assisting with the search, according to the website.

Published on March 20, 2013 at 1:40 am

Contact Jessica: jliannet@syr.edu | @JessicaIannetta