The selection of a president is a governing board's most important responsibility, and the search process is the board's best opportunity to help guide its institution into a successful new era. This guide outlines the leadership roles during a search (those of the board, the board chair, the search committee, and others), briefs board…

The challenges facing public higher education are placing new demands and pressures on colleges and universities and those responsible for their governance and leadership. As higher education seeks to negotiate these and other 21st-century changes, the role of its "guardians" in stimulating change, supporting purposeful leadership, and…

The president has just announced her plans to leave the college within the next year. What is the board going to do? At Wilmington College in Delaware, the board relaxed and continued with its business without missing a beat. That's because a succession plan had been in place for several years, and it was just a matter of deciding the details of…

According to a recent Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) survey, nearly 67 percent of four-year independent and public colleges, universities, and systems secured an executive search firm to help with their presidential search activity. This edition of the Guidelines and Directory profiles 16 North American-based…

This guide for trustees and search committee members who are involved in the process of selecting a college or university president provides background information and questions to ask when interviewing search consultants, as well as a directory of search consultants. An introductory section on selection guidelines covers how a search consultant…

This article suggests that trustees give the same high level of thoughtful consideration to selecting the board chair as they give to filling the presidency. More than the routine filling of a vacancy, the process for naming the board's next chair amounts to the selection of a governance team. The board's most important responsibility is not only…

This publication provides general background information and questions trustees and search committee members might ask as they interview search consultants to help in the search for presidents of institutions and it profiles search firms so that trustees and search committee members can make initial assessments as they look for consultants. A…

This report focuses on the critical relationship between the presidents and governing boards of this nation's higher education institutions. At the outset of the 21st century, colleges and universities face an array of daunting challenges. To name a few: intense global competition, rapid technological advancements, changing demographics,…

Sunshine laws are designed to make meetings and records of public entities visible so that a state can help ensure accountability of decision making affecting public resources. The laws often pit the news media's desire for greater public disclosure of information on public college and university governance against institutional leaders' desire to…

This booklet for trustees of institutions of higher education provides guidelines for conducting a presidential search. The booklet notes that the presidential search can offer the institution an opportunity to take stock of its recent history and future prospects and draw a campus together. Among guidelines offered for planning the search are:…

When colleges and universities seek new presidents and chancellors, search committee members and consultants usually focus on their responsibility to make judgments about the candidates. The competition for the strongest candidates can be fierce and fast. The search committee will be striving to attract these candidates by telling a compelling…

This book presents a comprehensive approach to the presidential search for institutions of higher education. Beginning with the premise that each institution must tailor the search to its own needs and circumstances, the book offers options and guidelines in nine chapters. The first chapter reviews initial steps including the size, composition,…

Recommendations for improving the search, selection, and negotiation for a college president (the term president is used to represent an institution's chief executive officer) are offered, and the social responsibilities of the president are briefly addressed. Aspects of the search that may present problems include: determining institutional…

If we could survey academic chief executive search committees across higher education, a composite definition of reference checking would likely include verification of factual information such as dates of employment, job titles, and responsibilities, as well as an evaluation of successful performance and leadership skills. Although everyone would…

When the inevitable change in presidential leadership takes place at a college or university, board members often think only of the additional demands the search will place on their hectic schedules. No other situation allows board members to contribute so positively and profoundly to the immediate and long-term welfare of the college or…