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| By Dan Cooper & Erin O'Connor WESTFIELD - Despite a field of four candidates chosen to succeed former president Vicky L. Carwein, the Westfield State College (WSC) Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Feb. 15 to continue the search for a new college president. The decision came after a recommendation from the College's Search Committee, scheduled last week to give to the Board the names of three candidates from among the four semi-finalists left. The search firm EFL Associates helped the Committee narrow the field from 56 to five semi-finalists. The field was reduced to four when Patrick J. Schloss, president of Northern State University in South Dakota, withdrew his name for personal reasons in January. The four semifinalists included Richard K. Sullivan Jr., current mayor of Westfield; Nancy Kleniewski, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Bridgewater State College; Rod David Smith, former president of Ramapo College of New Jersey and current president and CEO of Rod Smith Consulting Group; and Roger W. Bowen, former president of State University of New York (SUNY) - New Paltz and currently general secretary of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). "We need to find the best possible candidate for Westfield State College. While all the candidates were good candidates, we feel they were not in the best interest of the college," Chairman of the Board of Trustees Tom Foley said. The previous candidates are eligible to reapply for the new search. Student representative Danielle White was against the motion to extend the search. "The students feel there are two viable candidates for the position. If we extend the search, we may lose them," she said "The students did not express a dislike toward any one candidate, but Bowen and Smith were our preferred choices," Mike Mazeika, president of the Student Government Association said to Reminder Publications. Kimberly Tobin, WSC faculty member and representative on the Search Committee, said the two candidates favored by the faculty and student body included Smith and Bowen. Corrine Ebbs also of the Search Committee agreed with Tobin. "One of the reasons that I voted against extending the search is that I think everyone on the Committee worked very hard and thought very carefully about the votes that they had cast and I think it is a difficult situation to please everyone and that is probably the biggest challenge we all face," Ebbs said. She added that she was leaning very heavily towards Bowen. "He addressed issues related to all constituents with a great deal of depth," Ebbs said, adding that she is afraid Bowen will not run in the next search. "We are not in a crisis situation," Foley said. "We have great confidence in the faculty and staff and Interim President Barry Maloney. The college is in good hands as we continue to search for the right president." The Board voted on the issue after a recommendation from Carol C. Katz, member of both the Search Committee and the Board of Trustees. "I didn't feel overwhelming support for any candidate, having read all the e-mails we received," Katz said. "This is not a failed search. It is just not a completed one. There just was not enough support across the campus for any one candidate." Tobin did not agree. "While I didn't think we had three candidates- there could have been two," Tobin said. She added that there was no time offered to debate on the choice of an extended search. Smith said he was disappointed by the decision of the Board of Trustees but he would reapply for the president position if allowed. "I felt connected to the faculty, students, and staff," Smith said. "I have never felt so connected to an institution like Westfield State. I think we would have been and still are a perfect match. I will definitely reapply. I welcome another meeting with the Presidential Search Committee and the Trustees to find out what went wrong, " he added. Sullivan will not be reapplying for the presidential position at the College. "The Committee feels Westfield State College should continue the search," Gina Golash, former college trustee and chair of the search committee said. "We have four qualified candidates, but none of them have enough support to recommend them.." The Board of Trustees said more information on the next search will be known in April. |