Faculty Provide Perspective in New Principal Search

After Principal Thomas Hassan announced this summer that the 2014-2015 school year would be his last as the head of the Academy, PEAbegan a search for its fifteenth principal.An official Principal Search Committee, composed of four faculty members and nine trustees and staff, was established a week following Hassan’s statement, and in the coming weeks, the group will take into consideration the counsel of faculty, students, parents and alumni as they prepare to assess and determine the best candidate for the position.“The committee will evaluate candidates, interview them and then ultimately make a recommendation on whom to appoint as the fifteenth principal,” Dean of Faculty Ron Kim, who serves on the committee, said.Many measures must be taken before the committee can consider a list of candidates. As many decisions at Exeter are made by the faculty as a whole, they will play a crucial role from start to finish of the selection process.“The faculty’s role has been crafted to be consistent with those community values while at the same time respecting the trustees’ responsibilities,” trustee Tony Downer, co-chair of the Search Committee, said.On September 23 and 24, faculty, staff and students will be able to take part in open forums chaired by search committee members, and the committee will also meet with department heads. Furthermore, faculty members will be able to suggest certain individuals as candidates for the position. Those interested in meeting with the committee should respond today to an email from Kim sent earlier this week to the entire campus community. Supported with the feedback they receive from the community, the committee will enlist the help of Spencer Stuart, an outside search firm with an exceptional track record for academic institutions such as Exeter.

“Spencer Stuart will assemble a candidate pool comprised of nominated individuals as well as individuals Spencer Stuart identifies as matching well with the input received,” Downer said. “The committee will evaluate the members of that candidate pool, and from that pool identify a very short list of finalists from whom the trustees will select the principal.”Science instructor Townley Chisholm noticed similarities between the current and past search procedures. “As with the previous searches, there are faculty members on the search committee, as well as trustees and administrators,” Chisholm said. “Other faculty are invited to suggest candidates and selection priorities.”Others, however, found the size of the committee unwieldy.“I do think that the search committee is a little large. I wonder how so many people will be able to work together in an effective way,” history instructor Michael Golay said.Meanwhile, mathematics instructor Joe Wolfson felt the size was appropriate, but suggested that it was on the edge of being oversized. “Any larger would be more cumbersome, for sure,” he said.As for the members of the search committee itself, while teachers seemed surprised with the short time in which it was assembled, most felt confident in the group selected.“There are some teachers, a lot of trustees, some former teachers and a few others on the search committee. I think that the people they’ve chosen from the faculty are good people and I trust them,” history department chair Bill Jordan said.The committed has promised a transparent search to faculty and students, but many remained uncertain as to what that might entail exactly. Immediately after the launch of the search, some were already puzzled by the method of selecting committee members.Golay, who initially had plans to nominate fellow faculty members to serve on the search committee, was surprised by the rapid decision process, and was notified of the final members of the committee before having a chance to send a recommendation. “I have no idea by whom those names were determined,” he said. “They were just presented to us in an email. This all happened so quickly that there were no provisions for us making nominations.”Golay was also confused not only by whom, but how the search committee members were chosen. “Nobody knows what criteria were used to select the members,” he said.Some faculty also greeted the idea of “complete transparency” with mixed feelings. Wolfson found it to be a “weak promise,” and that cannot result in clear evidence. “The committee can always say that they were as transparent as possible, and who can contradict them?” Wolfson said.

Jordan was wary, but hopeful of the committee’s promises and the processes they will observe. “Ultimately, there’s going to be a ton of input, and hopefully there will eventually be patterns that are helpful,” Jordan said.Golay was troubled as well by exactly what the committee meant by transparency, and whether it was the right terminology at all. “I think their idea is that they want as many people to have a voice as possible. Whether you call that transparency or not, I don’t know. That’s consultation, it seems to me, and there may be a difference between [the two],” he said.But regardless of their opinions on the search methodology itself, all faculty seemed to have coherent and detailed visions of what Exeter’s fifteenth principal should exemplify, though those opinions were mixed.Wolfson focused on the value of intellect in Exeter’s next leader. “The new principal has to be smart,” Wolfson said. “Really, really smart. And needs to understand what kind of leadership this faculty will respond to.”Wolfson continued to describe his wishes for principal that focuses on making faculty meetings “energizing each and every week.”Golay, who shared a similar outlook with Wolfson, also stressed the importance of being receptive to all standpoints. “I would like to see the future principal come from an academic, scholarly background, or an academic discipline,” he said.“I’d like to see a principal that not only tolerates, but values ideas that don’t always match up with his own, and seeks out a range of points of view and is comfortable with the clash of ideas and doesn’t necessarily expect consensus on every issue.”Jordan also saw the importance of a principal engaged in scholastic pursuits. “We really need someone who’s committed to the academic mission of our school and the fundamental purpose of our being here,” he said.Like Golay, Jordan also spoke of the necessary commitment and enthusiasm to Exeter specifically, a characteristic that is vital in his eyes.“They have to be very enthusiastic about Harkness, and about the humanities, and about the sciences and about just learning to learn. And so that person needs to appreciate what we do and be a good ambassador to the world to talk about what we’re doing here, whether that be to donors or alums or prospective students,” he said.Chisholm underscored the significance of a scholarly-driven principal. “I would like the search committee to find a principal who celebrates academic excellence,” he said.Ideally, for Chisholm, this principal could also adhere to their intellectual backing of education and “support it articulately and consistently in word and deed.”