Dear Gustavus Community,
The turn of the seasons is upon us with a buzz of student life on campus and a flurry of activity by the Presidential Search Committee. As a reminder, President Rebecca Bergman announced her retirement as President of Gustavus, effective at the end of the 2024-25 academic year (June 2025). As a result, our community is in the process of searching for a new president. As Chair of the search committee, I am pleased to offer this detailed update on our progress on this important search.
What has been done so far?
As you can imagine, the search for a president involves multiple steps, each designed to ensure we select the person who is best equipped to meet the needs of the college now and in the future. As a first step last year, the Board of Trustees identified preliminary candidate priorities and selected a search firm, AGB Consulting, that would source candidates that might be a good fit for Gustavus. Then, the Board, faculty, and staff each nominated search committee members they entrusted to represent their respective interests and the interests of the college during the selection process. A student member was also recruited to give voice to the priorities of the student body. The full committee membership was approved by the Board of Trustees Executive Committee.
In May, AGB held over a dozen on-campus listening sessions with a range of college stakeholders, including faculty, staff, alumni, students, and trustees. The input from these sessions became the foundation for all of the work that followed.
We began our committee work in earnest last May and completed a major document, the Search Profile, in June. The search profile is the primary guide for the search. It describes Gustavus for prospective applicants and it articulates the leadership agenda for the president and the attributes we are looking for as we conduct the search. The leadership agenda and desired attributes were informed by our on-campus listening sessions. The search profile is a public document, and it has been used by AGB over the course of the summer to recruit candidates and assemble a pool of applicants. You can view the search profile here.
The search committee met again on August 29, with a primary agenda to build alignment around the candidate review process and a common understanding of how we will proceed as a group. We reviewed best practices for gathering and evaluating candidate information and defined the roles and responsibilities of committee members. At this meeting, we also participated in an anti-bias workshop led by AGB Search Consultant Shannon McCambridge and reviewed the laws that are relevant to hiring processes and decisions. To strengthen our common understanding of the focus of our search, the committee also discussed the leadership agenda and desired attributes that are specified in the Search Profile, and we agreed on the list of key competencies the college seeks in its next president.
What happens next?
This month, the search committee is moving into a very active phase: reviewing application files. To complete this work, we have adopted a digital review process by which each committee member evaluates each application. This will ensure that all committee member perspectives are heard and all candidates are screened with a common and clear set of criteria. We are going to be busy! Gustavus is a vibrant college with a strong reputation and we already have a large pool of talented applicants who are interested in serving as our next president.
We will continue to review all applications until after the submission deadline of October 4. Then, prior to our next meeting on October 10, we will summarize the candidate ratings and perspectives of all committee members. At the search committee meeting on October 10, we will agree on a short list of candidates who will move to the semi-final stage.
The semi-final stage will consist of virtual candidate interviews with the committee as well as preliminary reference checks. Prior to the interviews, the search committee will review principles and guidelines for eliciting job-relevant information in interviews and for evaluating the information that we gather. We will also develop interview protocols that ensure the leadership competencies are covered and that each committee member has a role in the conversations.
Next, the search committee will narrow the semi-final pool to a short list of finalists. To get an in-depth understanding of the finalists, we will interview them in person and expand the number of reference checks. Along the way, we will help the finalists develop a more nuanced understanding of Gustavus, and AGB will conduct public record searches and background checks on the candidates. I will provide further detail about the process and procedures following our meeting on October 10.
What are the confidentiality parameters?
While we want to be open with the community about our search process, college presidential searches have changed dramatically over the last decade, with many highly qualified applicants requiring full confidentiality in order to protect their position and integrity at their current institutions. Gustavus’ reputation as a leading liberal arts college makes us attractive to high-quality candidates who have applied because we have promised confidentiality throughout the search process. Thus, Board leadership has determined that maintaining full confidentiality about candidate identity is critical throughout the search and selection process. We realize that this full confidentiality requirement is a break from previous leadership searches at Gustavus. Please be assured that your committee members are representing the College and acting on behalf of Gustavus’ best interests through the search process.
Search committee members will have perspective on the entire candidate pool and access to in-depth information on finalists, and will engage in interviews and reference checks that will significantly enrich their familiarity with the candidates. This range of information and context is vital to making a good decision. As we begin the applicant review process, please be aware that each committee member has signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement and is unable to discuss or comment on any information related to the candidates or our deliberations as a committee. Be assured that members of the committee are devoted to representing your priorities, and those of Gustavus Adolphus College, throughout this process
What can you do?
Until the application deadline of October 4, we will continue to receive applications. We encourage you to consider persons who might provide strong and effective leadership for Gustavus and ask you to refer them to the search profile and to contact GustavusPres@agbsearch.com, or directly contact our AGB Search Consultants, Loren Anderson (loren.anderson@agbsearch.com) or Shannon McCambridge (shannon.mccambridge@agbsearch.com). Any information you offer will be treated as strictly confidential.
If you were unable to participate in listening sessions last spring, we have established an email address (presidentsearch@gustavus.edu) where your voice can be heard. Please refer to the search prospectus and email this address should you wish to share any feedback.
The Presidential Search Committee looks forward to thoughtfully and equitably working through the application selection process to find our semi-finalist candidates this month. Should you have questions regarding the process at any time, please direct them to me at suzanne.boda@gmail.com. I will be in touch with another update following our meeting in October.
Best Regards,
Suzanne
Suzanne Boda ‘82
Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Chair-Elect, Gustavus Board of Trustees