04/24/2012

Presidential Search Committee Launches Web Site

Quick Facts

• Public input is invited regarding ‘what qualities, characteristics and experiences’ the tenth president of Winthrop should have, as well as ‘what challenges and opportunities’ Winthrop faces.
• Applications and nominations received by October 12 will receive full consideration.

ROCK HILL – The committee that will lead the search for the tenth president of Winthrop University on Tuesday launched a web site designed to gather public input and provide updates on the 15-month process.

The address for the presidential search site is: http://www.winthrop.edu/presidentialsearch/

Search and Selection Committee Chair Kathy Bigham promised such a web site would be created when she was named to head the panel earlier this month, indicating that it would a means of gaining public input in the early part of the process.

Those providing comments are asked to identify “what challenges and opportunities the tenth president of Winthrop will face,” and “what qualities, characteristics and experiences” the next president should have,” Bigham said, adding that common themes that emerge from the comments over time can be added to materials provided to candidates later in the process. Summaries of those comments can be posted back to the web site as well, she said.

Participants are asked to identify whether they are affiliated with faculty and staff, the student body, or alumni of Winthrop, or are a member of the community , or some “other” category. That information will be used to aggregate input from each of group, so that search committee members can review comments either individually or by affiliation, university officials said.

Meanwhile, Winthrop will be hiring a consultant who will help the search committee with nationwide candidate recruitment, checking references and other later phases of the process. The web site indicates that applications and nominations for the post received by October 12 “will receive full consideration.”

Once the 10-member search committee sends a list of three to five candidates with appropriate qualifications to the Board of Trustees for their consideration – targeted for “not later than March 2013,” -- the search timetable calls for a series of public meetings where various groups can meet the finalists in person, then provide additional feedback to the search committee.

The last phase of the process will involve the Winthrop Board of Trustees choosing an individual and negotiating a contract with that person to become the tenth president of Winthrop in Summer 2013.

The search was initiated by the Board of Trustees following Dr. Anthony DiGiorgio’s March announcement of his plans to retire from the presidency after the next academic year, which will be his 24th heading Winthrop.