Alastair Summerlee to retire June 30; list of candidates currently confidential
The University of Guelph is on schedule to select a new president and vice-chancellor to replace outgoing president Alastair Summerlee, who is retiring on June 30, 2014. The Board of Governors is expected to confirm the name of the successful candidate this month, according to the U of G’s Presidential Search website.
The Presidential Selection Committee, which is comprised of board members, faculty, students, staff and alumni, has been convening since early last year to develop criteria for potential candidates and review applications.
“The [selection] process is focused on confidential candidate cultivation and review that will ultimately lead to the development of a confidential recommendation for consideration by the Board of Governors early in 2014,” announced Dick Freeborough, Chair of the Presidential Selection Committee and member of the Board of Governors.
There are three members of the Board of Governors on the 10-person Selection Committee, so it appears likely that the Board of Governors will confirm the committee’s recommendation without issue.
In developing a “Position Profile,” the Selection Committee held drop-in sessions and town halls last year to solicit ideas and advice from the university at large. However, the selection process itself has been undertaken in strict secrecy.
The Selection Committee has been working with Caldwell Partners, an executive search agency, in reviewing candidates.
According the Position Profile available online, the new president will be “an accomplished academic recognized for excellence in teaching, research and service,” will have experience leading an organization through change, developing and implementing strategic plans, and will demonstrate a commitment to social justice and innovation, among other things.
In the Profile, the mandate for the next president reads, in part, as follows: “The President will build upon the University’s strengths and further develop and promote its potential for excellence. In consultation with the University community, the President will make decisions that will include refocusing resources to ensure the University continues to lead in its areas of excellence.”
The mandate also explicitly requires that the new president “advance and support” the university’s ongoing Integrated Planning cycle and Program Prioritization Process.
Alastair Summerlee began his term in 2003 as the university’s seventh president. Presidential terms last five years and will normally not exceed two terms, but Summerlee’s term was extended by one year to coincide with the completion of the $200 million BetterPlanet Project and the university’s 50th anniversary.
Summerlee arrived at the University of Guelph in 1988 in the College of Biological Sciences. He was the first president to be appointed from within the university.