The Presidential Search Committee has reviewed more than 50 applicants for the soon-to-be vacant position of president of the Middlebury College, and is now starting to interview candidates in person.
“We’ve been narrowing down candidates and now we are in the process of interviewing the applicants in New York,” said Professor of Spanish Miguel Fernández .
The committee features people from numerous parts of the College’s community, including trustees, students, faculty, and members of the administration.
Despite this diversity, committee members feel that all involved groups are contributing equally to the process.
“I’ve been very impressed with how this search committee has worked together,” said Fernández.
According to committee members, the candidates being reviewed most closely have diverse backgrounds, and share little besides past experience in academia.
“The committee had a sense of what we’re looking for,” continued Fernández.
“A traditional kind of candidate with an academic background, academic experience, and administrative experience, but we cast the net wide, so that we would not only see people like that.
Nathan Beman Professor of Mathematics Priscilla Bresmer added that “they all have a deep experience and interest in higher education. The form of that experience varies, but there is a lot of interest in this position.”
The committee is looking for candidates who it feels would excel in the numerous roles that the president has to fill.
“We’re looking for someone who can do a good job as president of Middlebury,” Bresmer said. “We want someone who can relate to students, can work with the faculty, and who can convince us that he can raise money for the institution.”
However, these criteria are not set in stone.
“I’d say that the search committee in general sort of wanted to follow these parameters but also wanted see what else was out there,” said Fernández.
The presence of trustees on the committee, whose goal is to eventually forward a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, has led to concern from some that the trustees will have undue influence on the committee. However, committee members have found such concerns unfounded.
“They certainly have influence, but their interest is in Middlebury College as well,” Bresmer said. “They have the same goal as we do, which is to find a good leader for Middlebury.”
