Adams State casts wide net for next president
By Owen Woods | owen@alamosacitizen.com
THE search for Adams State University’s new president is moving along with a pool of 29 applicants and an additional 24 nominations. Screenings and first-round interviews are slated to begin in March, according to an update given to the Board of Trustees Thursday.
Search Committee Co-Chair Mark Martinez gave a promising update. He said things are going well in the search and among the 29 applicants, there are eight who are “very serious” candidates, and two of which are “B-plus and A grade” candidates. Martinez said the search firm assisting them, WittKieffer, ranks each candidate on an A, B, or C scale.
Of those A and B-plus candidates, Martinez said some of them have ties to the Valley, but no applicant is from Adams State.
The 24 nominated candidates are being contacted by WittKieffer to discuss further interest.
Martinez said some of the applications came in very early from job hunters who cast wide nets. He noted that more serious applicants will typically apply toward the end of the search process.
He said that on Jan. 24, WittKieffer representatives were on campus and in the community. During that meeting, Martinez said they were able to discuss and approve a rubric for interviews. The Search Committee is meeting on Feb. 23. During this meeting they will see a first draft of interview questions and will have a chance to approve those questions.
Martinez mentioned this will be the first time members of the Search Committee will have access to candidate materials.
Board of Trustees Chair Michelle Lueck provided some clarifications and set the timeline for the next few months. Lueck noted again that the Search Committee is just responsible for the search. The Board of Trustees will choose the candidate based on the slate of finalists advanced by the Search Committee. She said they are expecting between three to four candidates, but as many as six and as few as one.
March 1 is the “soft” deadline for the first round of candidate screenings. Lueck said that the deadline is tentative to accommodate serious applications that come in later.
On March 30 and 31, the first round of interviews will begin. The Search Committee will kick off this first round.
During the week of April 17, candidates will be flown to campus where there will be vetting and listening sessions. Lueck said they anticipate receiving a slate of Search Committee recommendations by the following week.
Martinez highlighted the importance of having a good turnout during the week of April 17, because the candidates are “interviewing us as much as we are interviewing them. And the better we can do of communicating our identity and our needs, especially faculty, the more successful we’re gonna be in the long run with having a candidate that’s the right fit. There’s just so much at stake.”
