Dear Ithaca College Community,
I am pleased to provide an update on the presidential search. The appointments to the Presidential Search Committee are complete, we have engaged an executive search firm, and we have scheduled a series of open forums with members of the campus community and the executive search firm.
The committee includes the following individuals:
Chair, David Fleisher '91, Parent '20, Trustee
Michael J. Conover '81, Trustee
Jack H. Dembow '77, Trustee
Déontae Guy '23, President, Student Governance Council
Sara Haefeli, Faculty
Traci Hughes '85, Trustee
Tanya Hutchins '89, President, Alumni Association Board of Directors
Clint McCartney, Chair, Staff Council
Chris McNamara '81, Chair, Faculty Council
Kathy Newlands '89, Trustee
Mary George Opperman, Trustee
Judith Pena-Shaff, Faculty
Linda Petrosino ’77, M.S. ’78, Dean
Jeffrey J. Selingo '95, Trustee
Jan Singer '86, Trustee
David H. Lissy '87, Trustee, Board Chair (ex officio)
James W. Nolan Jr. '77, Parent '01, Trustee, Board Vice Chair (ex officio)
After a review of several national executive search firms, Isaacson, Miller has been selected to assist the committee and the Board of Trustees in managing the search process and actively recruiting a deep and diverse pool of candidates. Isaacson, Miller is a preeminent firm serving academia in the recruitment of presidents, vice presidents, and deans for some of the nation’s leading colleges and universities. The search team will be led by Kate Barry, partner, with senior associate Karen McPhedran and associate Stephanie Simon, who all bring extensive presidential search experience.
As the search process gets underway, the committee and the Isaacson, Miller team will consult widely with Ithaca College faculty, students, staff, alumni, and other key stakeholders to learn your views about the future of IC and the type of leader that can best carry IC forward. This inclusive process will begin with listening sessions virtually and on campus starting next week and continuing into the following week. A position profile will be developed based on these listening sessions and will be approved by the search committee who will then publicly make it available soon thereafter. We look forward to engaging the campus community in these conversations. Please save the following dates:
Open Forum times and links:
- Open forum for faculty – OCTOBER 12, 2021 – 12:10-1:05 PM
- Open forum for staff – OCTOBER 12, 2021 – 2:00-3:00 PM
- Open forum for students – OCTOBER 12, 2021 – 5:00-6:00 PM
There are two general open forums for anyone who cannot attend the preceding meetings or anyone who has further input to provide to the search firm:
- Virtual General Open Forum – OCTOBER 19, 2021 – 5:00-5:45 PM
- In-person General Open Forum – October 20, 2021 – 12:15-1:00 PM, Emerson Suites, Campus Center
If you are unable to attend these meetings, please feel free to share your thoughts with the consultants and the committee via a survey or via email at presidentialsearch@ithaca.edu.
I wish to extend my thanks in advance to the members of the Presidential Search Committee and entire Ithaca College community for their dedication to IC. We enter the search for Ithaca’s next president with great enthusiasm and optimism. I look forward to our work together.
With gratitude,
David Fleisher ’91
Chair, Presidential Search Committee