To Catch a President

The search for a new president has begun at RIT, and the university partnered with Isaacson, Miller, an executive search firm, to assist in the process. On Aug. 29, an open forum was held to inform students, faculty and staff about the presidential search process. In addition to working with Isaacson, Miller, RIT has created the Presidential Search Committee, chaired by retired IBM Vice President Susan Puglia, whose member list can be found here. 

Isaacson, Miller members John Muckle, Karen McPhedran, Liz Braun and Ethan Thomas are working with RIT on the presidential search, and the firm is also partnered with the university in the ongoing search for a new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and assisted in the hiring of current President David Munson.

Picking a new president was broken down into a multi-step process. In order to find nominations, Isaacson, Miller has opened up nominations from RIT community members and is actively scouting out applicants as well. Part of this step, described during the forum by John Muckle as “proactive outreach,” involves configuring a diverse body of applicants, which will include roughly 50–60 applicants from both inside and outside the university.

One of the most important aspects of the search, as identified by Isaacson, Miller, was making sure that applicants have a keen interest in RIT’s culture and values going forward. They are evaluating ethics and public stances of applicants to ensure that they align with RIT’s values as well.

At present, the search will be conducted in private to protect the anonymity and confidentiality of the applicants, who are vetted and scrutinized by the university and Isaacson, Miller, with no town-hall style conferences for the applicants planned aside from meeting with select committees put together by the university. In the past, finalists were introduced to the RIT community, notably William Destler and James Watters in 2007.

At the forum, students, faculty and staff brought their ideas for what makes a good presidential applicant to the table. Students focused on providing better housing and protecting students’ rights to peacefully protest on campus. Employees hope that applicants look into job stability for employees and continue to advance RIT’s partnerships with Rochester Regional Health and the RIT global campuses.

Other ideal qualities included the ability to sign to better accommodate NTID, a commitment to further the university’s DEI initiatives and to balance the experiences of the community with the business side of running a university.

Once the next president has been selected by Isaacson, Miller, they will inform the Board of Trustees, who confirms the new president’s acceptance. The final announcement revealing the new president to the broader RIT community will be made early next year, and they will begin transitioning into their new role over the summer.

Going forward, Isaacson, Miller hopes to keep the broader RIT community involved within the search. Anyone with questions or suggestions about the search process should reach out to nextprez@rit.edu, although they cannot comment on every matter.