OPEN LETTER TO CAMPUS COMMUNITY
April 23, 2008
To the Students, Faculty, Staff and Friends of Western Washington University:
I am writing on behalf of the Board of Trustees (“Board”) and as a follow-up to Search Committee Chair Phil Sharpe’s earlier letter to you to outline the events which have taken place since that time. As you may know, the Board this morning announced that it has extended an invitation to Dr. BruceShepard, Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, to visit the campus as its preferred candidate to serve as Western Washington University’s next president.
At the time of Phil’s letter to you, the Presidential Search Advisory Committee (“Committee”) had identified six individuals about whom it sought additional information through the reference process. Members of the Committee and search firm made reference calls to peers, supervisors, and supervisees for each candidate. A total of 70 individuals were contacted, all of whom were asked questions covering a wide variety of subjects relevant to how candidates make decisions; their expertise in planning, management and personnel issues; their fundraising capabilities; and their work to support diversity and excellence on their campuses. Those making reference calls then reported back to the Committee what they had learned, following which the Committee identified five candidates it wished to recommend to the Board of Trustees for particular consideration. The Committee’s recommendations along with the background information on all 53 candidates were then transmitted to the Board.
On the afternoon of April 3, 2008, the Board met in executive session for three hours with its search consultants, Jan Greenwood and Betty Asher, of Greenwood Asher & Associates, to conduct a candidate review. The Board then invited the Committee members to join it for dinner and further discussions in executive session. At the dinner meeting, the candidates recommended for particular consideration by the Committee were discussed individually. Committee members were free to speak their minds and had the opportunity to comment about each of the candidates recommended for particular consideration.
After consulting with the Committee, the Board invited all five of the candidates recommended for particular consideration to participate in interviews with the Board. The interviews took place April 7 and 8 at an airport hotel in Seattle. Four of the five candidates were able to attend the interviews in person. One candidate was interviewed by telephone. Each interview lasted two hours. Small groups of Board members also met with four of the five candidates in social settings as their schedules permitted.
It would be an understatement to say that the Board was impressed by the candidates recommended for particular consideration by the Committee. Each of them was possessed of experiences, skills, qualities, and characteristics which would serve Western well. However, at the conclusion of the interviews, Board members continually commented about one candidate who seemed uniquely suited to lead Western at this time in its history. That candidate is Chancellor Shepard. Simply put, he stood out in a field of outstanding candidates, which created a true sense of excitement among the members of the Board.
Had Dr. Shepard not so clearly “risen to the top” for the Board, we would have considered naming finalists rather than a preferred candidate for the position of President today. But the truth is we have a preferred candidate, and inviting other candidates to continue to participate in the search process at this time would not make sense or be fair to those other fine presidents or their campuses. Although it had absolutely nothing to do with the Board’s decision to name him as the Board’s preferred candidate, it is worth at least noting that Dr. Shepard was the only candidate among the five who was eager to participate in open campus events before any possible final action by the Board. Of the remaining candidates, three were unwilling to participate in open campus events prior to Board action, while the fourth was willing, but reluctant, to do so. We feel most fortunate that Dr. Shepard and his wife, Cyndie, were not only willing, but eager to meet the campus community. The truth is that they want to meet us as much as we want to meet them.
We are confident that once you meet Bruce and Cyndie, you will share the excitement that I know is already felt by the Board and Committee. I feel very certain about that, and I could not be more excited about Western’s bright future.
We would also like to encourage you to carefully review the materials concerning Chancellor Shepard that are available on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay website at: www.uwgb.edu/chancellor/. The materials are both exhaustive and instructive. We are sure you will be pleased with what you read. If you only have time for two articles, we would recommend that you read his report entitled, “Educating the Chancellor,” which was written at the beginning of his chancellorship, and his “2008 Mid-Year Convocation,” given on January 14, 2008. While the content of these reports are quite naturally tied to UWGB, we would ask that you pay particular attention to the tenor, tone, content, and quality of the conversations reflected in the reports and the values which they hold up as being important. After reading these reports, we are confident you will be pleased and excited about the prospects of Western’s future under the leadership of Chancellor Shepard. And for a flavor for the kind of impact Cyndie has had in Green Bay and throughout Wisconsin, please evaluate the work she has done with the Phuture Phoenix program by clicking on: http://www.uwgb.edu/phuturephoenix/about/index.asp
On a personal note, we want to once again thank you, as members of the campus community, for the thoughtful and wise input that you provided the Committee and the Board. Your valuable input is reflected in the Position Description and the Statement of Challenges and Opportunities adopted by the Board. These documents embodying your wisdom have guided the Committee and the Board throughout this process and have led us to an individual whom we all believe is uniquely suited to help us reach our common goal of becoming this nation’s premier regional comprehensive university.
Respectfully,
Kevin Raymond, Chairman
Board of Trustees