NEWS
May 3, 2013
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Chabotar retiring necessitates ninth presidential search
BY BRYAN DOOLEY
Senior Writer
For only the ninth time in its history,
Guilford College is preparing to select a
new president. Over the coming months,
Guilford will begin the long search process.
"I have seen three of these presidential
searches during my 45 years at Guilford,"
said Elwood Parker, professor of
mathematics. "The board of trustees
decides how to conduct the search process.
The typical process involves the formation
of a search committee.
"The trustees have control over who is
on the search committee and how many
people are on the committee. Typically,
there have been three faculty members,
some trustees, members of the alumni
association and some staff."
Linda Thorup '82, board of trustees
member, gives more detail about the search
committee.
"Board Chair Joseph M. Bryan Jr. is
actively assembling a search committee
comprised of 12-14 members which
includes the Search Committee Chair
and Vice Chair," said Thorup in an email
interview.
The search committee is charged with
narrowing down applications, doing
preliminary interviews and ultimately
making a recommendation to the full
board of trustees so they can make the final
decision.
Students and faculty also have
representation on the committee. Typically,
members of the faculty, a traditional and a
CCE student participate in the preliminary
interview process.
Many faculty members feel they need a
direct influence in the decision.
"Because of tenure, faculty members
often have the longest standing relationship
with a college of any constituency," said Jim
Hood, professor of English. "Faculty are
the guardians of the institutional memory
and mission and should therefore play
a key role in the decision making. They
need to serve on the search committee and
should be widely consulted throughout
the search process."
Because of their long-standing
commitment to the school, many faculty
members have specific dreams for the
future and hopes for the new president.
"My personal dream for Guilford
emphasizes social justice, one of our key
values," said Tom Guthrie, associate
professor of sociology and anthropology.
"We should be thinking critically about
making Guilford a much more diverse
and accessible institution, where all are
concerned about improving the world."
Guthrie shared his opinion regarding
qualities the next president should possess.
"My hope is that the president has a
very bold, creative vision for Guilford,
and will inspire us to create that vision,"
said Guthrie. "I would hope the president
would build a consensus from the bottom
up rather than leading from the top down."
Nancy Daukas, professor of philosophy,
elaborated on this point.
"We've become very 'top-down' in our
governance structure," said Daukas in an
email interview. "If we hope to retain our
identity — our soul — we need a leader who
sees leadership as service, as facilitation,
as enabling the creative, formative work of
the community rather than as power and
prestige.
"We need a leader who values grass
roots, community-based decision-making
processes guided by our core mission as a
practical liberal arts college in the Quaker
tradition."
Several faculty members would like to
see an increased commitment to our core
values, especially community.
"My dream is for an increased sense of
community that is even more diversified
than what we have but with a greater sense
of community," said Richie Zweigenhaft,
Dana professor of psychology. "We now
have early college, traditional college and
adult students all on separate tracks with
very little interaction with the exception of
the classroom.
"My dream would also include more
appreciation of staff in our community. I
would like for us not only to pay faculty
more but also to pay the staff, including
the lowest paid maintenance staff, more
than we currently do."
Maria Rosales, associate professor
of political science, would also like to
see more appreciation for the Guilford
community.
"I would like everyone who works at
Guilford College, in whatever role, to
feel both valued and to value the work of
everyone else here, including students,"
said Rosales in an email interview. "I
would like us to share our creativity even
more than we do."
Suzanne Sullivan, assistant director
office of communications and marketing
outreach, also discusses the uniqueness
of Guilford's community and the need to
market this strength.
"I hope Guilford's next president will
have a long range vision of the future of
Guilford," said Sullivan. "They should be
able to help us keep our very important
core values as an institution founded by
Quakers, and at the same time, lead us
to a successful future in a market that is
increasingly competitive.
"I would hope that they would be able to
project Guilford's uniqueness in a positive
way that will encourage people to find out
more about us. We have a special niche in
society that is attractive to many people.
This message needs to get out."
Most faculty interviewed expressed a
great deal of appreciation for the many
% years of service from Guilford's current
president, Kent Chabotar.
"I have enormous respect for Kent and
what he's been able to do," said Visiting
Professor of Political Science Robert
'Duncan. "He's dealt with some very nasty
situations involving racism and violence.
To Kent's credit, he hasn't gone into knee-
jerk responses or jumped into the fray.
"He's always waited until all of the
evidence was in and looked at the facts.
He's very cool, calm and deliberate
in dealing with crises. Perhaps most
importantly, he pulled Guilford back from
the brink of bankruptcy. He's smart, savvy
and a good manager."
Faculty are not the only ones with a stake
in the search for Chabotar's replacement.
Students also play a role.
For the full story about
the presidential search,
go to:
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COI^
Foimdei-8 Update from The Guilfordian
On Tuesday, April 23, The Guilfordian and OSLE held an "Occupy Founders" event to
discuss the ways in which the renovated Founders has not felt as community-oriented or
student-friendly as the old Founders.
A group of students met and talked about this issue and various possible solutions. Some
powerful ideas came from this discussion and they are listed below.
• A rolling corkboard: it could be put in the lobby during the day so that Founders could
have a place for flyers (announcements, events, etc.), but then at night could be rolled
into Steve Moran and Erin Fox's office so that the flyers would not be torn down
Permanent art, possibly student art, on the walls in order to showcase student talent
and add variety and color
Accessibility: currently many doors in Founders (such as the doors to the Student Orgs
Commons or both Galleries) do not have an accessibility button to press for entry
A piano
TVs that have shows or news on them, not just Guilford announcements
Flowers/plants, real or fake
More campus events in Founders, such as holding "video game" nights in the Galleries
(we could hold movie nights too!)
A ride share board
Larger sofas; additional seating suitable for more than one person
A book share shelf
Air hockey table, foosball table, ping-pong table, pool table, Wii
Stream WQFS music in the lobby areas (at least the area outside of the station)
Commercials/sound on the rotating TV board; also figuring out a way to make flyer
information more accessible so you don't have to stand and watch for a few minutes
Games (could be on the bookshelf or at the info desk)
Have Greenleaf sell coffee and food in Founders
If you have any questions, concerns or want to add to this list, please email guilfordian®
guiIford.edu. The Guilfordian will keep you updated with any new developments or plans as
soon as they become available.
Guilford’s second
annual “Dollar and
a Dream” concert
was held this past
Saturday, April
27 in Sternberger
Auditorium,
featuring
performers such as
sophomore Rod
Walker, better
known by his stage
name L.A.B.
Musicians, artists
and crafters from
all over North
Carolina came to
showcase their
talents.
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