The process of finding a successor for University President John DiBiaggio has begun in earnest, and a committee of students, alumni, faculty, and University trustees is moving quickly in its search for potential candidates. Great importance is being placed on this search because it will be up to Tufts' next president to chart out the crucial next steps in light of the strides the past two presidents have made in improving Tufts' national reputation and financial situation.
Members of the screening committee recently held separate meetings with faculty and students to explain the proposed goals and timetable and to get feedback on what qualities the community wants in the next president. Committee chair Irwin Heller, an alumni and trustee, fielded most of the questions posed by faculty and students.
"We would clearly want someone who is distinguished, and ideally someone with name recognition," Heller said. "It would also, of course, be helpful if the person was perceived as a scholar or a renowned researcher, given that teaching and research are the two main purposes of the University."
The forums were also attended by Barbara Stevens, a representative of Isaacson, Miller, the executive search firm that will help the committee locate potential candidates. Isaacson, Miller recently worked with Brown University to locate their new president and is considered to be very knowledgeable about possible nominees.
"We want to keep the character of Tufts essentially the way it is, while continuing to move forward," Stevens said. Both Stevens and Heller stressed the need for the new president to fit Tufts' unique characterization as a student-centered institution with a strong emphasis on research and a focus on undergraduate education.
The committee is looking for candidates from one of three general categories, each of which has certain strengths. The first is provosts and senior deans of Ivy League schools, who would bring prestige and a "big name" to Tufts. The second category consists of presidents of less prestigious institutions who take a step up to Tufts. The third type of candidate is a non-academic, such as someone from the business or private sector, who would potentially provide contacts for fundraising purposes.
During the forums, students and faculty expressed opinions about the challenges that the next president will face and what they feel his or her priorities should be. Opinions ranged from furthering diversity at Tufts to dealing more effectively with faculty and staff. The size of the endowment was a common theme throughout the forums.
"Our endowment is woefully inadequate... while the current fundraising efforts by President DiBiaggio were extremely successful, we are pitifully weak compared to other schools we compete with," said Heller.
Tufts' $550 million endowment is less than that of benchmark schools such as Brown against whom Tufts aggressively competes for students. According to Heller, since a president spends nearly 70 percent of his or her time fundraising, the committee will look for evidence of successful fundraising throughout a candidate's previous experiences. He stressed that they were looking for a credible candidate who had passion for Tufts and its mission, which would carry through when negotiating for funds.
The job of president is not an easy one, and any candidate would need to be able to deal with alumni, students, staff, the press, and the rest of the world on a regular basis. For that reason, demonstrated leadership ability is considered an essential qualification. Because DiBiaggio generously gave the committee up to two years to locate a new candidate, special care is being taken to search for the best possible candidate.
The process of finding and eventually selecting a new president will have three distinct stages. In the first, both Isaacson, Miller and the screening committee will be meeting with representatives from an array of areas of the Tufts community in order to fully understand their concerns and expectations. When that is completed, Isaacson, Miller will network through their various channels and attempt to locate people who might be interested in the job. During this time, anyone can make suggestions for consideration.
When a "short list" of candidates has been created, a very thorough screening process will begin. References will be checked, and the candidates will be extensively interviewed. This part of the process is extremely confidential, due to the risk that the candidates' current employers could find out that they are considering another job.
Some students and faculty questioned whether Harvard's current search for a new president would have any effect on Tufts' effort, as potential candidates might hold off on applying to Tufts until Harvard makes its decision. The general consensus of the committee members was that Tufts' focus, challenges, and mission, are quite different from Harvard's, and require a totally different type of president. The committee feels that presidential searches at Princeton, Georgetown, the University of Massachusetts, and Harvard will not greatly impact Tufts because each school values different qualities in its candidates.
The committee members were selected to represent a cross-section of the Tufts community. However, they do not serve as delegates for the areas they represent, as the committee is focused on what's best for the University as a whole.
