All members of the Eastern Kentucky University community and area residents will have an opportunity to share their insights into the current status and future needs of EKU as well as the desired profile of the University’s next president when representatives of Academic Search conduct an open community forum at the Stratton Building on Monday, November 12, 2012.
The event, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Posey Auditorium, is part of a two-day visit to EKU and the region by Dr. Jim Appleberry and Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, senior consultants for the firm selected unanimously by the EKU Board of Regents to assist the Presidential Search and Screening Committee and the Board in the process to determine the University’s 12th president. President Doug Whitlock, who has led EKU since 2007, announced in August his intention to retire, effective July 31, 2013.
The forum will be streamed live on the University’s home page (www.eku.edu) and will be available for viewing afterward on a soon-to-be-launched presidential search website.
In addition to the open forum at the Stratton Building, Appleberry and Hauser will conduct numerous meetings and forums on the Richmond campus November 12-13 to gather input from all segments of the University community.
“The search firm’s role is not to select our next president, but to help ensure that the search and selection process is managed effectively, and that we achieve our goal of securing the best possible president for EKU,” said Craig Turner, chair of the University’s Presidential Search and Screening Committee and vice chair of the Board of Regents. “As the EKU Board of Regents embarks on this critical endeavor to select and appoint the next great, visionary leader of this university, we seek the input and participation of all segments of the University community and our region.”
In addition to numerous meetings with University and community leadership, both individuals and groups, the consultants will also conduct open forums with faculty and staff Tuesday, November 13 in the Keen Johnson Building – faculty from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and staff from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Leaders from the Student Government Association and other student organizations also will have an opportunity on November 12 to meet with the consultants.
Also, a Regional Campuses Open Community Forum is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13, from 7 to 8 p.m. at EKU’s Corbin Campus. The Corbin event, too, will be streamed live on the University’s home page.
Academic Search has worked with more than 1,000 colleges and universities in searches for presidents and senior administrators over the past 35 years, and Drs. Appleberry and Hauser have vast experience in higher education and consulting with colleges and universities. Dr. Appleberry is president emeritus of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and of Northern Michigan University. Dr. Hauser is the past president and CEO of Kauffman Scholars Inc., presently serves the Ewing Kauffman Foundation as a Senior Fellow, and has held a variety of leadership roles in private foundations, higher education institutions and the public policy arena.
