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Post by blueandgold on Mar 7, 2014 9:24:32 GMT -5
"To the La Salle University Community: At our last meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to accept the recommendation of the Presidential Search Committee to extend an offer to one of the finalist candidates to serve as the next President of La Salle University. Unfortunately, because of a series of unforeseen events, that candidate chose, with great regrets, to remain at their home institution. Given the sensitive nature of the conditions that led to this candidate’s decision, we have been asked, at this time, not to comment on the situation beyond the substance of this announcement. I have committed us to honor that request and ask that you do the same. With this in mind, we need to revisit our own Presidential succession plans. To that end, in the near future, I will confer with the Executive Committee of the Board to determine the process by which the interim Presidential situation will be resolved. The identification of an interim appointment will allow a new Search Committee the opportunity to resume the search for the next President of La Salle University in a timely, deliberative fashion."
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Mar 7, 2014 9:32:43 GMT -5
"To the La Salle University Community: At our last meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to accept the recommendation of the Presidential Search Committee to extend an offer to one of the finalist candidates to serve as the next President of La Salle University. Unfortunately, because of a series of unforeseen events, that candidate chose, with great regrets, to remain at their home institution. Given the sensitive nature of the conditions that led to this candidate’s decision, we have been asked, at this time, not to comment on the situation beyond the substance of this announcement. I have committed us to honor that request and ask that you do the same. With this in mind, we need to revisit our own Presidential succession plans. To that end, in the near future, I will confer with the Executive Committee of the Board to determine the process by which the interim Presidential situation will be resolved. The identification of an interim appointment will allow a new Search Committee the opportunity to resume the search for the next President of La Salle University in a timely, deliberative fashion." After talking to some people yesterday, I thought it was a done deal. Shocking.
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Post by lasallerules1978 on Mar 7, 2014 10:54:48 GMT -5
I received the email. Is this person different from the RMU candidate? I believe this is the first email I have seen where someone acknowledged the person turning down the position.
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Post by SICguy84 on Mar 7, 2014 11:00:53 GMT -5
Do we still have to pay the search firm?
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Post by a10champion15 on Mar 7, 2014 11:01:04 GMT -5
I honestly can't believe it is this difficult to find someone they feel is qualified for the position or have multiple people who are interested.
very disappointing but it does not surprise me whatsoever.
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Post by explorerman on Mar 7, 2014 11:13:09 GMT -5
"To the La Salle University Community: At our last meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to accept the recommendation of the Presidential Search Committee to extend an offer to one of the finalist candidates to serve as the next President of La Salle University. Unfortunately, because of a series of unforeseen events, that candidate chose, with great regrets, to remain at their home institution. Given the sensitive nature of the conditions that led to this candidate’s decision, we have been asked, at this time, not to comment on the situation beyond the substance of this announcement. I have committed us to honor that request and ask that you do the same. With this in mind, we need to revisit our own Presidential succession plans. To that end, in the near future, I will confer with the Executive Committee of the Board to determine the process by which the interim Presidential situation will be resolved. The identification of an interim appointment will allow a new Search Committee the opportunity to resume the search for the next President of La Salle University in a timely, deliberative fashion." After talking to some people yesterday, I thought it was a done deal. Shocking. I don't know who you were talking to... But after my near heart attack by a poster on here saying that finalist #2 was in contractual discussions, I had to reach out to someone... They said they read my concerns on the message board and said they reconsidered their approach.. I kid I kid.. To sum up, as I mentioned last week, candidate #1 was head and shoulders above the rest... Interim will be the best route.. Now with that said, In total, this is embarrassing and someone needs to be held accountable. An University was given a year and could not find a President. Search firm needs to be replaced and/or the alumni/board members on the search committee involved need to be replaced. Accountability is important, I just wonder how that will happen as the people who have the ability to make the decisions are the ones, by in large, that need to be changed. I will find out more in the next week or so.. In mean time maybe this should be merged with the other thread on the presidency (as it is important, it is not Bball related)
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Mar 7, 2014 11:23:12 GMT -5
After talking to some people yesterday, I thought it was a done deal. Shocking. I don't know who you were talking to... But after my near heart attack by a poster on here saying that finalist #2 was in contractual discussions, I had to reach out to someone... They said they read my concerns on the message board and said they reconsidered their approach.. I kid I kid.. To sum up, as I mentioned last week, candidate #1 was head and shoulders above the rest... Interim will be the best route.. Now with that said, In total, this is embarrassing and someone needs to be held accountable. An University was given a year and could not find a President. Search firm needs to be replaced and/or the alumni/board members on the search committee involved need to be replaced. Accountability is important, I just wonder how that will happen as the people who have the ability to make the decisions are the ones, by in large, that need to be changed. I will find out more in the next week or so.. In mean time maybe this should be merged with the other thread on the presidency (as it is important, it is not Bball related) Not disagreeing with the choice to go interim. I just got the impression that it was moving down the road to finality.
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Post by a10champion15 on Mar 7, 2014 11:26:03 GMT -5
They will probably make one of themselves the interim president....so embarrassing.
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Post by coqui900 on Mar 7, 2014 11:27:00 GMT -5
This is far from an embarrassment. This stuff happens a lot. I have no idea who got nominated so I can't tell. But the search committee did find, what, nine candidates originally? I'm sure a lot more applied or were interested. Then they narrowed it down and the BOT made an offer to someone they wanted... who turned it down.
We don't know why this person turned it down. Maybe there are family considerations -- the person didn't want to move, or had cold feet, or all sorts of other things.
The biggest embarrassment is if we hired someone who ended up crappy. I know some on here didn't like the candidate for various reasons -- that's fine, but that's not an automatic lock this person would do a bad job. There are people on here who have slammed Br. Mike, which is absolutely ludicrous to me, but to each their own.
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Post by La Salle 08 on Mar 7, 2014 11:32:09 GMT -5
Welp, it's Brother Ed's time to shine now as interim president right?
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Post by coqui900 on Mar 7, 2014 11:35:32 GMT -5
Welp, it's Brother Ed's time to shine now as interim president right? I would absolutely love that. Him or Dr. Mshomba or Paul Brazina.
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Post by SICguy84 on Mar 7, 2014 12:01:27 GMT -5
I'm in the embarrassment camp on this one. Would this happen to any of the other Big 5 institutions? Fair or unfair it just looks like we don't have our shit together.
Bro. Mike, please stay on until a suitable and respectable replacement is found, be that later this year or in 2016.
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Post by Gnocchi on Mar 7, 2014 12:21:49 GMT -5
Any truth to the rumor that the guy in charge of the search to hire the search firm was Dr. Denim?
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Post by SICguy84 on Mar 7, 2014 12:42:37 GMT -5
Any truth to the rumor that the guy in charge of the search to hire the search firm was Dr. Denim? The Up State NY candidate did share something in common with Brennan...
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Post by Gnocchi on Mar 7, 2014 12:49:27 GMT -5
An affinity for birdhouses?
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Post by golasalle on Mar 7, 2014 13:01:19 GMT -5
I'm in the embarrassment camp on this one. Would this happen to any of the other Big 5 institutions? Fair or unfair it just looks like we don't have our shit together. Bro. Mike, please stay on until a suitable and respectable replacement is found, be that later this year or in 2016. You embarrass way too easily. As to your question about the other Big 5 institutions, 3 of the 5 are Catholic schools so there is no "turning it down" because, up until La Salle opening it up to non-Christian Brother, all of the Catholic institutions have clergy as their president and it was pretty much next man up. And if I recall correctly, Penn went through something similar some years back. Not sure how you see this as unforeseen or embarrassing unless you are just looking for something to criticize. You admit that you don't know the facts and for that matter neither do I. But let me posit a likely scenario. ALL of these candidates have very good jobs at their respective institutions and because they have been identified as candidates (and expressed reciprocate interest in the job) do exemplary work for their current employer. Perhaps the current employer, moved by the potential of losing said exemplary employee, sweetened their situation to the point where relocation, taking on a new challenge, etc., became less attractive. You cannot force people to take a job unless you throw stupid money at them. Should that be the circumstance, not sure how you find that "embarrassing."
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Post by durenduren on Mar 7, 2014 13:16:48 GMT -5
A lot of institutions have gone the "interim" route, and I rather do that then settle for our second choice. Don't see how this is such a negative as many are suggesting. Atleast it proves they aren't settling.
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Post by a10champion15 on Mar 7, 2014 13:36:46 GMT -5
A lot of institutions have gone the "interim" route, and I rather do that then settle for our second choice. Don't see how this is such a negative as many are suggesting. Atleast it proves they aren't settling. I am just saying they have had a year to get this done. I guess it is just my accounting philsophy that treats La Salle like a corporation. You don't take a year to decide on a new president. Could you imagine a successful corporation taking a year to decide on a president. I am not about a settling on a selection but I feel it should not have taken this long or been this difficult.
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Post by belfieldhappyhour on Mar 7, 2014 13:43:57 GMT -5
After talking to some people yesterday, I thought it was a done deal. To sum up, as I mentioned last week, candidate #1 was head and shoulders above the rest... Interim will be the best route.. Now with that said, In total, this is embarrassing and someone needs to be held accountable. An University was given a year and could not find a President. Search firm needs to be replaced and/or the alumni/board members on the search committee involved need to be replaced. Accountability is important, I just wonder how that will happen as the people who have the ability to make the decisions are the ones, by in large, that need to be changed. Like others, I don't know much about the three candidates. Obviously, one was chosen as the lead from the group of three, but turned it down. Let me ask what I consider an obvious question, why not move on to one of the other finalists? In this group of three, was it one perfect candidate and two other names, or was it three solid candidates with one above the other two? I don't get the move to interim president search after getting turned down by one person. To me, there seems to be plenty of time to get this done, and done correctly between now and June 30. What am I missing about the other two finalists??
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Post by SICguy84 on Mar 7, 2014 13:47:31 GMT -5
I'm in the embarrassment camp on this one. Would this happen to any of the other Big 5 institutions? Fair or unfair it just looks like we don't have our shit together. Bro. Mike, please stay on until a suitable and respectable replacement is found, be that later this year or in 2016. You embarrass way too easily. As to your question about the other Big 5 institutions, 3 of the 5 are Catholic schools so there is no "turning it down" because, up until La Salle opening it up to non-Christian Brother, all of the Catholic institutions have clergy as their president and it was pretty much next man up. And if I recall correctly, Penn went through something similar some years back. Not sure how you see this as unforeseen or embarrassing unless you are just looking for something to criticize. You admit that you don't know the facts and for that matter neither do I. But let me posit a likely scenario. ALL of these candidates have very good jobs at their respective institutions and because they have been identified as candidates (and expressed reciprocate interest in the job) do exemplary work for their current employer. Perhaps the current employer, moved by the potential of losing said exemplary employee, sweetened their situation to the point where relocation, taking on a new challenge, etc., became less attractive. You cannot force people to take a job unless you throw stupid money at them. Should that be the circumstance, not sure how you find that "embarrassing." All fair points. I just felt that with a 1.2 million dollar package being reportedly on the table, a nationwide search, top search firm, dedicated search committee, location of the university in a major metropolitan area, and loosen presidential bylaws that we would land a quality person in the first attempt. I guess we nearly did. DurenDuren makes a good point that at least they did not settle.
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Post by coqui900 on Mar 7, 2014 13:49:27 GMT -5
Well, a lot of places make rush hires and end up screwing themselves. I'd rather they do their due diligence. They seemingly did and something ended up happening.
It's also dumb to compare us to the rest of the Big 5. UPenn's an Ivy League school. That's a completely different animal. Temple's a gigantic state-ish school. Villanova's a Catholic school but also attracts a really wealthy student body and has a law school, which changes things up.
If you want really embarrassing, just look at Hawk Hill right now. They're in a huge budget crisis and faculty members are suing administrators. I'm not doing this to gloat about the basketball rivalry -- it's truly awful and I have some friends who might lose their jobs because of it. It's really rough.
Arcadia (a school we compete with for students) fired their president last year without even bothering to explain why.
Those are problems. This was something that ended up not working out immediately.
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Post by explorerman on Mar 7, 2014 13:57:19 GMT -5
Like others, I don't know much about the three candidates. Obviously, one was chosen as the lead from the group of three, but turned it down. Let me ask what I consider an obvious question, why not move on to one of the other finalists? In this group of three, was it one perfect candidate and two other names, or was it three solid candidates with one above the other two? I don't get the move to interim president search after getting turned down by one person. To me, there seems to be plenty of time to get this done, and done correctly between now and June 30. What am I missing about the other two finalists?? I don't have much to post on this right now. I will have more time later to post. But I thought Belfield post was a good one to leave people with while to getting my point across.. Especially to those who admittedly do not know anything, yet say it was not an embarrassment.. I encourage you to think about Belfield's post deeper than just at the face level and then you will start to see why this is greatly embarrassing to the people that do know..
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Post by Gnocchi on Mar 7, 2014 15:35:00 GMT -5
A lot of institutions have gone the "interim" route, and I rather do that then settle for our second choice. Don't see how this is such a negative as many are suggesting. At least it proves they aren't settling. If we're gonna have a female candidate, LSU could do a lot worse than settlin' for Jennifer Nettles...
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Post by durenduren on Mar 7, 2014 16:20:12 GMT -5
I'll be honest, I'm not here to pass judgement of Nettles, Skittles, or whomever was the finalists... I didn't know of a name until now, but I'm glad it isn't that chick from Lincoln Tech still.
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Post by Gnocchi on Mar 7, 2014 16:47:47 GMT -5
I'll be honest, I'm not here to pass judgement of Nettles, Skittles, or whomever was the finalists... Good that the BOT decided there's gotta be something more.
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Post by gymrat67 on Mar 7, 2014 17:52:32 GMT -5
I'll be honest, I'm not here to pass judgement of Nettles, Skittles, or whomever was the finalists... I didn't know of a name until now, but I'm glad it isn't that chick from Lincoln Tech still. Duren Duren : That " chick from Lincoln Tech " as you demeaningly referred to her played Div. I basketball for four years on an athletic scholarship, graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biology, has a Masters degree and PhD in Applied Physiology, and is Provost and Vice. Pres. of Academic Affairs of a well-regarded college.
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Post by gymrat67 on Mar 7, 2014 18:21:31 GMT -5
The mere fact that the list of three Finalists for the Presidency broke down for different reasons does not necessarily mean that the BOT or the Search Firm failed to perform their jobs in a professional, highly competent and diligent manner. I am sure that the Search Firm used every means at their disposal to develop the best list of potential candidates possible. However, the Search Firm and the BOT can only work with the candidates who express serious and genuine interest in the position. Timing is everything. It is a well known fact that there are an unusually large number of colleges and universities -- not only in the Phila. area but nationwide -- who are seeking new presidents at this time. How attractive the La Salle position is ( eg., compensation, financial health, size of endowment, facilities, size of student body, size and location of campus, etc. ) when compared to these other presidency openings is obviously a significant part of the equation. Moreover, oftentimes the finalist candidates look great on paper in terms of their academic credentials, educational philosophy, business acumen, etc., but then fail to impress ( or much worse ) the BOT, faculty, alumni reps and student reps in the on-campus, in-person interviews.
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Post by ltrain38 on Mar 7, 2014 18:26:24 GMT -5
A lot of institutions have gone the "interim" route, and I rather do that then settle for our second choice. Don't see how this is such a negative as many are suggesting. Atleast it proves they aren't settling. I am just saying they have had a year to get this done. I guess it is just my accounting philsophy that treats La Salle like a corporation. You don't take a year to decide on a new president. Could you imagine a successful corporation taking a year to decide on a president. I am not about a settling on a selection but I feel it should not have taken this long or been this difficult. I realize this isn't quite your meaning, but I think applying corporate models to universities is just about the biggest problem in academia today. It has basically reduced what should be a democratically run institution (in theory) to a profit-centered business model at the expense of classroom education. That's how we end up with a a 5-1 growth of administrative vs. faculty positions nationwide over the last 30 years in the name of offering marketable student services, rather than improved course offerings and pushing more and more people who gave up to ten years of their lives studying at the highest possible levels into part-time work as adjuncts and lecturers. It should be no shock in that environment that a person would leverage an offer from one university to better their position with another (assuming that's what happened here).
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Post by durenduren on Mar 7, 2014 23:13:26 GMT -5
I'll be honest, I'm not here to pass judgement of Nettles, Skittles, or whomever was the finalists... I didn't know of a name until now, but I'm glad it isn't that chick from Lincoln Tech still. Duren Duren : That " chick from Lincoln Tech " as you demeaningly referred to her played Div. I basketball for four years on an athletic scholarship, graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biology, has a Masters degree and PhD in Applied Physiology, and is Provost and Vice. Pres. of Academic Affairs of a well-regarded college. Haha, you missed my point my man. I had no idea who the candidate was. It was all a joke, commentary that many chalk up the competency of our BOT's to the level of interviewing half-assed, non-accredited institutional presidents. Not much I say here is too serious, this included. If this is the route the BOT has agreed upon, I'm all for it. They've put in the most time, the most research, the most effort... I'll agree with anything they put forward. Sometimes they'll make questionable decisions, but these people are no bumps on a log, no morons, no leaders in their respective fields. I get they're unpopular, and the same could be same for any school, but they're trying. That's enough for me at this point, enough that I respect them announcing a less than popular decision, a less than easy or traditional decision. But let's not make this into sex, because that's about the last thing I care about.
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Post by SICguy84 on Mar 26, 2014 14:25:27 GMT -5
March 26, 2014 To the La Salle Community: In my last communication to you concerning the Presidential Search process, I said that more information on the candidate to whom the Presidency had been offered would be forthcoming at the appropriate time. It is now possible for me to confirm that an offer had been extended to Linda LeMura, Ph.D., Provost of Le Moyne College, to serve as the next President of La Salle University, and that an unforeseen confluence of events prevented her from accepting. The day after we informed Dr. LeMura that she had been selected, the current president of Le Moyne confidentially informed his trustees that he was engaged in a search that would likely lead to his departure. Faced with the potential loss of their president, provost, and two deans (who indicated they would leave Le Moyne if Dr. LeMura would no longer be at the school), the trustees of Le Moyne made a strong, heartfelt appeal to her to remain at the school. It is a testament to her sense of loyalty, honor, and dedication that she chose to do so. Dr. LeMura and the Le Moyne trustees asked that we not mention these details until their leadership situation was resolved; that happened on Friday, and a public statement to that effect was issued by the college this week. In granting this request, we believed that the La Salle family would share the University Trustees’ desire to act in an honorable, respectful manner to an individual of whom we thought highly enough to select as our next President. We wish Dr. LeMura and Le Moyne every future success, and we thank you all for your patience and understanding in waiting for this explanation. With this said, I can also report that the Executive Committee of the Trustees came to an agreement that the most prudent step at this time is to move to an Interim Presidency and to begin a new Presidential Search in three to four months. The Committee further agreed that the Interim President will not be a candidate for a full term of office, thus giving us the benefit of time to conduct a thorough, unbiased search. The consultant for the previous search, and other consultants in college and university leadership, agreed that this decision is both consistent with best practices in higher education and the most advantageous course of action to secure the University’s interests. We have already begun the process of identifying potential candidates for the Interim Presidency and will provide a status report once the full Board has made its selection. A version of this statement has been posted on the University Web site under the Presidential Search banner, and in it we once more express our appreciation to the Search Committee members for the supreme skill and dedication with which they discharged their duties. We also emphasize our commitment to making certain that the Christian Brothers’ ethos, strength of character, and commitment to Lasallian Catholic education, which have guided the University in its first 151 years, will be respected and preserved in the Board’s Presidential decision. Lastly, the statement notes that though the process did not yield the result we all would have anticipated or preferred, it did identify key issues that will be of significant help in selecting the best possible Interim (and then, full-term) President for the University. We remain confident that the results of our efforts will insure that La Salle’s brightest days are yet to come, and, once more, we thank you for your understanding and support. Sincerely yours, William R. Sautter Chairman Board of Trustees La Salle University www.stltoday.com/news/multimedia/fred-p-pestello-named-slu-president/image_0c0392a4-7d70-51fe-b2ab-2fd3f41e7a65.html
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