Meredith’s Next Challenge:
Finding Our Next President
Julia Houtchings, Contributing Writer
Finding the “perfect” fit for
a college’s president can be a long,
difficult process, especially if that
college is Meredith—as only a very
special person could understand our
undying devotion to Corn and Alice.
Following President Hartford’s retire
ment announcement in February
2010, the Board of Trustees formed
a search committee in June to take
on the responsibility to find that very
person. The Board also commissioned
a prominent search firm, Storbeck/
Pimentel & Associates, LLC, to help
facilitate a nation-wide search for the
next president.
To ensure a committee that
accurately reflects the Meredith com
munity and its opinions, each indi
vidual population - students, faculty,
staff, and alumnae - nominated
representatives to serve on their
behalf. The Executive Committee of
the Board approved the following
persons for each respective
constituency: Beth Howard,
’ll, Drs. Monica McKinney
and Beth Mulvaney, Melyssa
Allen, and Deborah Mat
thews. The Trustees’ rep
resentatives are Elizabeth
Triplett Beam, ’72, the com
mittee chair, Nancy Cheek,
’63, the committee vice chair,
Alex Holmes, Randall Lolley,
Maureen O’Connor, Deborah
Dove Smith, ’80, and C.C.
Wiggins, ’76. The Chair of the
Board, Sam Ewell, is serving
on the committee as an ex-
officio member.
Because input from a
community is vital during
any college’s presidential search, the
committee conducted four public forums
on Tuesday, October 12, and Wednes
day, October 13, for each population that
comprises the Meredith community.
Storbeck/Pimentel Vice President Anne
Coyle led the forums and recorded all
input. Committee Chair Elizabeth Beam
explained the purpose of these forums
as follows: “We [the committee] are in
listening mode, so we are not defining
opinions. Our job is to hear everybody,
to look at the trends, and to sort it out.”
She also heavily emphasized that “every
opinion will be heard and noted.”
While the specific comments
and opinions in the forums varied. Beam
stated that she and other committee
members definitely felt the most com
mon theme was the “overwhelming”
dedication and love for Meredith. One
theme that seemed to weave its way
throughout the student forum specifi
cally was a desire for high visibility and
more direct student interaction. Other
student suggestions for the new presi
dent included prior experience in non
profits and businesses, or at the very
least, well-developed fundraising skills.
The committee chair commented on the
“very respectful atmosphere” of the stu
dent forum while they were expressing
opinions. “That was very impressive,”
Beam noted, “not only to us [commit
tee members], but to the consultant.
They were very impressed with student
participation and the interaction.”
All information that the Stor
beck/Pimentel consultant gathered will
be used in the next step of the process.
After sorting through that data, the
firm’s team will look for defining trends;
then Meredith’s presidential search
committee will draft a candidate profile
and a description for the position. After
the Executive Committee of the Trustees
approves the profile and job description,
that information will be made available
publically. Using its network of contacts,
the Storbeck/Pimentel team will begin a
nation-wide search for candidates who
have the capacity, strengths, and quali
fications for the position. The search
enters its “quiet phase” as the College’s
committee starts to review resumes and
interview potential candidates, a step
that will require absolute confidentiality
for three critical reasons. The first is to
protect the privacy of individual candi
dates because a leaky search can cause
the loss of potential candidates and
possibly endanger the positions they
currently hold. The second purpose is to
protect the integrity of the search, as a
Update: On 10/21-22, the Board of Trustees approved a new mission statement. It is as follows:
Meredith College, grounded in the liberal arts and committed to professional preparation, educates and
inspires students to live with integrity and provide leadership for the needs, opportunities and
challenges of society.
Correction; Last week’s front page article “A New Mission Statement” incorrectly stated that
Meredith College’s 1891 charter defined the school as a liberal arts college. This incorrect and should be
revised as follows: Meredith College was defined as a “liberal arts college,” as early as 1954 in a Purpose
and Policy statement from the Board of Trustees which argued “that Meredith College, a liberal arts col
lege for women, should continue to emphasize and develop its academic program in terms of scholastic
standards and service.” This liberal arts language was formalized in 1959 when Meredith was described
as a liberal arts college in the College’s charter, and those words have remained in the charter through
amendments in 2005.
damaged search could compromise the
entire process. The last essential reason
is to protect the reputation of a col
lege because a history of compromised
searches can make it extremely difficult
for that college to recruit candidates.
After selecting a manageable
number of candidates, which could be
six or ten or even more, the commit
tee’s ultimate task will be to narrow
them down to three final, unranked
candidates. The Board’s Executive
Committee will then recommend the
one who will best fit the position as the
eighth president of Meredith College.
The selection process terminates when
the Trustees make their final approval
of the new president.
When searching for qualified
applicants. Beam expresses that it is
especially important to look for ones
who are not in the market for a job
because the most qualified candidates
are happy and quite successful in their
current positions. In order to recruit,
the firm consultants will have to ex
plain everything they learned about the
College and community in the few days
they were here. While there are several
selling points the consultants have
for Meredith, Beam argues, “There
isn’t anything more important, more
impressive, than the community. That
is what’s going to convince someone to
leave a wonderful job someplace else
and disrupt a life [...] to move here.”
Our intense loyalty and com
mitment to Meredith College makes
us that community. “That’s part of
what makes Meredith, Meredith. If we
ever lost that,” Beam asserts, “then we
would lose who we are.”
For more information on the
search, visit the committee’s website:
meredith.edu/presidential-search
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