MCLA Students Identify Qualities in College Presidential Candidates
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Five candidates for president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, selected by the search committee, visited the college last month. Last week, the board of trustees named two, Jaimie Birge and Alan Ray, as the finalists.
Student leaders voiced their thoughts about which qualities the five candidates portrayed that were most imperative for further success at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. All five visited the college campus last month for a two-day visit consisting of multiple Q&A sessions and a final interview with the trustees.
"I think the biggest thing is the ability to compare each candidate. Unfortunately not all students were able to come to every session but with the wide variety of candidates at least they can compare the sessions they were able attend," said Alexandra Kadell, MCLA's Student Government Association president and Presidential Search student representative.
She said it was really important for students to give input during the search because whoever is chosen to be the next president will greatly influence the whole community.
This is the second presidential search undertaken since the departure of Mary Grant last year. The first attempt to replace Grant, an alum who steered the college for 11 years, faltered in the spring when the chosen candidate backed out of the post. The trustees determined to find a leader as soon as possible, reconvening the search committee and setting an aggressive schedule to fill the post by December.
The board of trustees received feedback electronically through anonymous surveys completed on SurveyMonkey, which are being reviewed to make the final decision that will name MCLA's 12th president, expect this Thursday.
Senior Nicholas Hernigle, an SGA student trustee, has compiled all student feedback from the search.
"I'd say we're generally looking for a different president that's not the same as Mary Grant, because Mary Grant came at a different time when we needed to progress a lot further as a university, where as now we are at a very advance stage as a university so now we need to streamline our continued success," said Hernigle.
The Presidential Search Committee organized each visit including a tour of the college campus. Each Q&A session designated for students was in MCLA's Sullivan Lounge.
Scott R. Furlong
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, Furlong asked students what features they care most about on campus and what areas they would consider to need improvement.
Among topics discussed, students mentioned issues occurring in student engagements, enrollment and safety on campus.
"How would you get students to engage in more on campus and how would you keep them engaged?" asked senior Kelsey McGonigle, coordinating SGA vice president.
"When I talk to incoming students I really press upon them to engage with the college campus, get involved with leadership rolls, and join organizations," said Furlong, adding that going to college is more than just going to classes, it's the entire student experience.
Students learn important skills toward their career development when they develop programs within different organizations on campus that do not always appear in the classroom, according to Furlong.
Furlong's knowledge and experience could benefit MCLA in many ways, according to McGonigle.
He said students at MCLA have a good story to tell, but to his understanding enrollment is an issue here partially because there are to few dollars in scholarship opportunities. A role of the MCLA president would be to raise money in order to give all students additional scholarship opportunities, he added.
Furlong noted at UWGB they have organized a safety walk on campus and initiated a campuswide escort system, both similar initiatives done at MCLA to increase safety on campus.
"I'm a collaborative leader and very happy to be working in higher ed. because I know I'm working with a lot of very smart and creative people, and you need to use that creativity, that intellect to get things done," said Furlong.
Furlong's visit on campus was between Nov. 4 and 5.
Andrew Rogerson
Provost and vice president for academic affairs at Sonoma State University, Rogerson spoke about the distinctiveness and importance of the liberal arts education offered at MCLA.
Rogerson answered a number of questions with a few directed toward how he would benefit MCLA's enrollment, curriculum, and student involvement.
"I think the bigger job for the future president of this university is to increase the amount of students here, but the way to do that is to explain to future students, their parents, and legislatures, why this is the right education," he said.
The MCLA name says nothing about business, education, science, and other majors, however, the liberal arts encompasses all of those professions and are taught in a distinctive liberal arts fashion, according to Rogerson. This aspect needs to be explained in more detail to incoming students, he added.
"He has a lot of leadership skills, and he knows how to address an audience by making eye contact and certain body language. I think he would know how to advocate on behalf of MCLA and that's what I believe a president needs to do," said Kadell.
Rogerson's leadership at SSU led administrators to also name his vice president of student affairs along with vice president of academic affairs. This was because of financial inabilities at SSU and because of his prolonged success at other universities they chose him.
"I think he has a lot of great qualities that would make him a good president. He's good at public speaking, addressing the questions that were asked, and he seemed like he really wants to move forward and care about the problems on campus," said Nicholas Hernigle, SGA trustee.
Rogeron's visit on campus was between Nov. 9 and 10.
Mary S. Alexander
Dean of the Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences at Western Connecticut State University, Alexander expressed concern toward funding for education purposes and showed interest in student commonalities at MCLA.
"She arrived early and was really good with taking to students before the [Q&A] meeting started. She was also very personable when she was talking to higher administrators about gaining more funding and money for the school," said senior Idalis Foster, Presidential Search Committee student representative.
If given the position these characteristics could work for her favor when speaking with legislators and donors to increase funding, she added.
"One thing that stood out to me was her answer to a question about the smoking policy because she wouldn't push for a change or interfere with prior decisions made by administration and student body," said Foster.
Alexander also stressed topics such as students seeking forms of academic and mental help that are available and relationship between the Student Government Association and the college. Both of these examples are essential to student life and access to them must be simplified, according Alexander.
"I think she has confidence in her abilities to do the [presidential] job but also to learn about the job further. She has qualities from her current position and the confidence with lead her to grow in the position," said Foster.
Alexander's visit was between Nov. 12 and 13.
James F. Birge
Fourth president of Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, Birge, provided several examples of how made an impact on the community at his current position.
"Although it doesn't sound difficult it's really difficult to bring different academic divisions of an institution together. But I am really proud of having been at the [Franklin Pierce] college because now there are stronger academic programs and they are attracting more students," said Birge.
His service-learning background and his experience with progressing student engagements could help all areas of MCLA, according to Hernigle.
"As the president of Franklin Pierce, he had an importance to all the departments. He comes from a different spot unlike other administrators that have been a faculty [member] or professor," said Hernigle. "This is a diverse aspect because I don't think there are a lot of past presidents out there that come from service learning or volunteering background."
When students asked questions, Birge, repeated them back to the audience to ensure every person clearly understood it, which was helpful for him to engage with students, according to Kadell.
"He became close with the students and even learned like five students' names before the questions started, that just shows he's really personable and knows how to interact with students," said Hernigle.
Birge's visit was between Nov. 16 and 17.
S. Alan Ray
Ray was president and professor of religion and society at Elmhurst College for seven years before stepping down in June. He suggested there should be substantial focus toward cultural amenities available to students and the importance of being aware of the financial state of the college.
"You are here for simply one reason, because of what you want to honor as a human being, as an individual, that's what excites me is helping others become better people in a systematic way that faculty and administrators can provide," Ray told the students.
Students understand more about different cultures while challenging stereotypes and learning information about other subjects, according to Ray. At Elmhurst College, he supported the affinity groups and Greek system established on campus when they organized special events.
He said one problem some colleges face is only relying on tuition to gain money for use by the college. His main concern is then to ensure that the affordability of education the college offers is not altered.
"I really liked his open hours for students to come and talk to him. I liked that he is interested in going to events and that he gave a lot of examples in his answers because it was helpful and now I can imagine seeing him on this campus," said McGonigle.
"I think he is really friendly, he explained his thoughts and what he wanted to do with the college and he was very detailed about it," she added.
Hernigle noted, Alan Ray did not rush when answering questions; he stopped, put thought into it and responded with a thorough answer.
Ray's visit was between Nov. 18 and 19.
Tags: college president, MCLA, search committee,
