Announcing search phases
The Presidential Search Committee reports on the status of their efforts and outlines search phases and upcoming activities.
May 19, 2022
Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,
The Presidential Search Committee (PSC) is committed to sharing pertinent information and milestone updates with the community as the process unfolds. On behalf of the PSC, we are pleased to report on the status of our efforts to identify the twentieth president of Mount Holyoke College.
Search Phases
There are, generally, four phases to the presidential search process:
Listening and Learning (summer and early fall 2022): The PSC will seek formal input from a broad range of community members to inform our work. We will gather this information by convening a series of listening sessions in various formats, as well as using online surveys and reviewing data from recent working group sessions. The objective is to gain a complete and current understanding of what the community views as the most critical challenges and opportunities for our next president, and the most important talents, values and capabilities we should seek in candidates. We sincerely hope you will consider participating in these activities, as your contributions provide us with the critical information we need to be successful in our work. The first of these sessions will be held as part of Reunion activities in May. Planning for additional sessions with key stakeholder groups is underway, and a calendar with upcoming PSC listening sessions will be available on the PSC web page as they are scheduled, along with links to online surveys.
Building the Pool (fall 2022): The PSC will work with our search firm partner to identify compelling presidential candidates. Given the nature of these tasks, there will be few details that can be shared widely during this phase, but we will keep the community informed of our overall progress. The position profile will be promoted widely and members of the community will have the opportunity to propose candidates.
Candidate Evaluation and Recommendation (winter 2023): The PSC will interview a slate of promising candidates and narrow the field to a short list of the most compelling. Those finalists will be further interviewed and vetted by the PSC, after which the PSC will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The Board will select the new president.
Announcement (spring 2023): The next president of Mount Holyoke College will be announced in the spring of 2023. We anticipate the twentieth president will begin their service on July 1, 2023.
Search Partner
We are pleased to announce that we have selected Isaacson, Miller (IM) as the PSC’s search partner. In addition to facilitating stakeholder involvement in a consultative and inclusive process, our IM search team (which includes one Mount Holyoke alum!) will help the PSC translate the array of community perspectives into a clear and persuasive position profile. Most importantly, the IM team will help to secure a broadly diverse candidate pool, a task for which they are well-prepared given the depth and breadth of their national and international networks, significant experience in searches at the presidential level and track record in supporting inclusive search processes.
We are honored to lead the presidential search process, and we seek to establish as diverse and inclusive a process as possible, while recognizing the confidential nature of the endeavor. Please continue to visit our presidential search page for key updates. Your comments and suggestions are welcome throughout the process — please email pressearch@mtholyoke.edu. A formal call for nominations will be shared when the position profile is complete, and if you wish to share specific candidate ideas now, please submit them to our search team.
On behalf of the PSC, we thank you in advance for your engagement as we seek to attract a stellar leader for Mount Holyoke College.
Sincerely,
Mona Sutphen ’89
Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Anne McKenny ’79
Vice-Chair, Presidential Search Committee