As Chair of the Presidential Search Committee, I am pleased to provide the community with an update from the April 12 committee meeting. After an intense and diligent process, the search committee has reviewed the nominations that have been submitted. We thank all University community members who have helped to identify viable candidates. 

We are also grateful to our partner, Diversified Search, who has provided assistance and leadership in helping us recruit a broad and diverse set of candidates. Diversified Search is guiding the evaluation stage of the search process and has been following up with submitted nominations. The committee will meet again in May to review additional applications and will then transition into a preliminary interview phase. 
 
Presidential Search Timeline 
The search committee anticipates that our recruitment and evaluation will identify top candidates after the conclusion of the spring semester. We expect to begin scheduling on-campus interviews of prospective candidates as early as this summer.  

We understand that scheduling interviews in the summer may limit the availability of some faculty, staff, alumni, and students to meet with all of the candidates. The search committee is dedicated to an inclusive process for our community and will make every effort to announce the interview dates as soon as they are finalized, in the hope that all members of the Arcadia community can come to campus for open sessions. 

We realize the time-sensitive nature and momentum of this process, and we respect the scheduling commitment necessary of each of the candidates and our community. We will work hard to ensure those of you unable to be present in person can participate in the process, view the candidate interviews, and join in the community discussion through virtual methods such as Bluejeans and/or Canvas.

Interim Placement 
The committee recognizes that the Presidential Search timeline extends beyond June 30, which will conclude the tenure of current President Nicolette DeVille Christensen. We have recommended that the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees take the next steps toward a seamless transition to an interim president beginning July 1. The Board will communicate its plan for this in the coming weeks, with careful consideration and preparation of the interim placement.

As always, I appreciate your participation in this important process. Please feel free to leave feedback for the Committee at arcadia.edu/presidential-search.

Sincerely,
Jey Auritt, Ph.D.
Chair, Search Committee