As you know, the work of our committee has come to an end, with the thrilling introduction of Clayton Spencer as the eighth president of Bates on Dec. 4, 2011. We could not be prouder or more excited about the promise of her tenure, which begins on July 1, 2012.

We’d like to tell you about the final phase of our work. The search began in the spring, and in late summer and fall we started to narrow an exceptionally strong field of more than 300 candidates from within and outside the U.S., diverse by every measure. We conducted intensive interviews with more than a dozen finalists, each remarkably qualified and passionate about Bates, its principled history, innovative approach to the liberal arts, and commitment to academic excellence. All shared the belief that Bates commands a distinctive position in higher education, with a mission and values that clearly resonate throughout the world.

Guided by our many conversations with every sector of the Bates community, we sought an inspired leader who understands global and higher education issues; can convey the value of a liberal arts education to a wide variety of audiences; embraces the Bates values of diversity, inclusion, and respect for human dignity; thinks strategically; possesses an inclusive leadership style and strong communication and listening skills; understands and can shape the relationship between Bates and the surrounding community; and, importantly, inspires individual donors, foundations and corporations to support the college financially and help develop its resources.

By mid-November we had decided on a candidate and were ready to make an enthusiastic and unanimous recommendation to the Bates Board of Trustees. On Sat., Dec. 3, the committee delivered a full report to the Board, which then voted unanimously to elect Clayton Spencer as Bates’ eighth president. Twelve of the individuals involved in the search process were on campus on Dec. 4 for her introduction to the Bates community.

For us and for every member of our committee, this search marks a high point in our lives as Batesies. Our assessment of candidates was remarkably congruent, and our work was infused with excitement for Bates and its future. We are delighted with the outcome and cannot wait to work with Clayton Spencer in realizing the full strength and potential of the college we all love.

In closing, we thank the members of the search committee for their tireless work, commitment to the college, good humor and individual and collective wisdom. We are grateful to Meg Kimmel, assistant vice president of communications, and Mary Main, director of human resources, for their professionalism and conscientious support of the search process. And we thank the members of the Bates Board of Trustees for entrusting us with this important responsibility and for their confidence in our judgment.

Valerie Smith ’75
Michael Chu ’80

• Students: Oct. 28, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Benjamin Mays Center
• Faculty and Staff: Friday, Oct. 28, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Benjamin Mays Center

The sessions will be hosted by Valerie Smith ’75 and Michael Chu ’80, co-chairs of the Presidential Search Committee. Campus community members unable to attend the sessions are invited to post comments to search website.

The Presidential Search Committee has been hard at work these past months, and we’ve made significant progress since last we wrote to you. We begin this letter by announcing a change in the composition of our committee. Board member Lena Sene ’00 recently resigned from the committee because of an exciting development in her career. She was invited to manage the presidential campaign of Idrissa Seck, a leading candidate in her home country of Senegal. Lena could not pass up such an opportunity and has moved back to Dakar to oversee this important effort. We wish her much success in this new endeavor!

Fortunately, Bates has no shortage of talented and committed board members; we’re delighted to announce that Trustee Sarah Pearson ’75 has agreed to replace Lena on the committee. Sarah brings a wealth of relevant insight and knowledge to this process. She has had a distinguished career in development at Harvard, Cornell, the University of Chicago and most recently as vice president for advancement at Northwestern University. At present, she serves as the chief development officer at the Broad Institute, the research foundation supported by philanthropist Eli Broad. Her nuanced understanding of the characteristics of an effective fundraiser and of what it takes to manage a successful campaign will serve us well during our deliberations.

With regard to the search process, we continue to sustain good momentum and remain on track to announce the new president by the end of the academic year. You’ll be pleased to know that all of the candidates currently under review have made a point of telling us that they were compelled to consider the opportunity because of the college’s strong standing, distinctive history and core values. We will be on campus in late October and will be holding open forums for students, staff and faculty in order to brief them on our progress and answer any questions they may have.

In the meantime, feel free to use this website to convey your thoughts and questions.

With all best wishes,

Michael and Val
Michael Chu and Valerie Smith
Co-Chairs, Presidential Search Committee

As summer draws to an end, we trust that you find yourselves rested and energized at the start of a new academic year.

We write now to update you about the status of the Bates College Presidential search. As we mentioned previously, in late spring, members of the search committee met with various Bates constituencies to solicit their opinions regarding the future direction of the college and the attributes the next president ought to possess. While the rhetoric may have varied from one discussion to the next, several key themes emerged from these conversations with faculty, alumni, staff, students and trustees:

• All constituencies care deeply about the college and are committed to its future success.
• The college is at a pivotal point in its history and will require inspired leadership to move us to the next stage in our evolution.
• We seek a president who possesses the following qualities: understands global and higher education issues and is able to convey the value of a liberal arts education to a wide variety of audiences; embraces the Bates values of humility, respect for human dignity, diversity and inclusion; is able to think strategically; possesses strong communication and listening skills and a transparent leadership style; and perhaps most importantly, inspires individual donors, foundations and corporations to financially support the college.

Since our last update, search committee members have devoted their energies to identifying and cultivating a strong pool of candidates. In late spring we wrote the prospectus — available on the Bates website — that Shelly Weiss Storbeck and her team from our search consultants Storbeck Pimentel and Associates have used in their outreach to nominees, applicants and prospects. The position has been advertised in all relevant print and online publications, and we have solicited nominations from a wide range of leaders in higher education and related fields across the country and internationally. During the summer we have been meeting periodically to discuss candidate materials and are planning to conduct in-person interviews and check references as we head into the fall.

Shelly and her colleagues have been hard at work helping us to assemble a group of candidates who possess the experience and attributes we seek in the next president. In light of our obvious concerns for confidentiality, we cannot disclose detailed information about the candidate pool or specific prospects. But we can say that we have been impressed by the size, diversity and quality of the pool. Candidates hail from different kinds of academic institutions and from outside the academy; they represent an array of disciplinary backgrounds; and they are at different stages in their careers. We have been delighted to learn that Bates’ reputation continues to grow and that so many individuals are interested in the opportunity to serve as our next president.

Thanks to all of you who have communicated with us so far to ask questions, nominate candidates, and share your thoughts. Feel free to reach out to us with any concerns you may have.

Best wishes,

Michael and Val
Michael Chu and Valerie A. Smith, Co-chairs
Presidential Search Committee

During the week of May 12-14, 2011 Search Co-Chairs Valerie Smith and Michael Chu and Search Consultant, Shelly Storbeck, hosted several open meetings with faculty, staff and students to gather input about the qualities Bates College seeks in a new President.

Here is a list of upcoming meetings:

Friday, June 10th
Discussion with Staff Advisory Group

Saturday, June 11th
Open discussion sessions with alumni
• Filene Room in Pettigrew from 9:00am to 10:00am
• Filene Room in Pettigrew from 1:30pm to 2:30pm

One of the most important responsibilities of the Bates College Board of Trustees is to recruit, select and appoint the president, a leader who will guide the college toward our highest aspirations for this distinguished institution. We are honored to have been asked by the Bates College Board of Trustees to co-chair the committee; we write now to brief members of the Bates community on our work to date.

With President Hansen’s recent announcement of her departure, Nancy J. Cable, Vice President and Dean of Enrollment and External Affairs, has agreed to serve as interim president. A search committee composed of seven trustees, four faculty members, one member of staff and one student has been appointed. Mary Main, Bates College Director of Human Resources, will provide logistical support for search committee activities throughout the process. Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, one of the leading firms in the area of higher education presidential searches, will assist the committee in the execution of its charge.

On May 12 and 13, we held individual and group meetings with representatives of all campus constituencies: staff, faculty, students, trustees and the athletics department. In each session, we asked participants to reflect upon three topics: the current state of the college, aspirations for the future of Bates, the appropriate personal qualities and professional qualifications of the next president. On May 14 the full search committee met for the first time; drawing on the views expressed during our “listening tour” of the previous two days, we began to draft the advertisement and position description.

In the early stages of the presidential search process, we will be especially concerned to engage a broad group of Bates College constituencies in articulating their hopes for the future of the College and the professional talents and personal qualities they believe the next Bates president ought possess. To that end, we have set up two mechanisms to provide members of the broader community with opportunities to express their views. First, all members of the community are invited to ask questions, make suggestions and nominate candidates in the Comments section of the Presidential Search web site. Second, we have set up a structure whereby specific members of the search committee will function as liaisons with college staff, faculty, students, alumni and parents to ensure that all ideas and opinions are heard and that members of the Bates College community can be kept apprised of our efforts in an appropriate manner.

The objective of the search process is to appoint the next president of Bates by July 1, 2012. All Presidential Search Committee members have agreed that we will be as transparent and inclusive as possible about the process while maintaining an appropriate timeline, and will hold in absolute confidence the names of candidates, both during and after the search. This commitment to confidentiality is critical in order to attract the strongest possible pool of candidates. The members of the search committee are:

J. Michael Chu ’80, P ’12, Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee; Member, Bates College Board of Trustees; Managing Partner, Catterton Partners
 
Valerie A. Smith ’75, Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee; Member, Bates College Board of Trustees; Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature, Professor of English and African American Studies, Dean of the College-Designate, Princeton University
 
Alison R. Bernstein P’09, Vice Chair, Bates College Board of Trustees; Director, Institute for Women’s Leadership and Professor of History, Rutgers University
 
Michael W. Bonney ’80, P’09, P’12, P’15, Chair, Bates College Board of Trustees; President, CEO and Director, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
 
Marcus C. Bruce ’77, Bates College Professor and Chair of Religious Studies
 
Matthew J. Coté, Bates College Associate Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean of the Faculty
 
Darrell Crate ’89, Member, Bates College Board of Trustees; President, Easterly Capital
 
Steve Fuller ’82, P’13, Member, Bates College Board of Trustees; Chief Marketing Officer, L. L. Bean
 
Jacqui Holmes ’13, student representative
 
Emily Kane, Bates College Whitehouse Professor of Sociology
 
John Kelsey, Bates College Professor of Psychology
 
Lena Sene ’00, Member, Bates College Board of Trustees; Partner, Impact Capital Partners
 
Gene Wiemers, Bates College Vice President for Information and Library Services, staff representative
 
Catharine Stimpson, LL.D. ’90, Bates College Trustee Emerita, University Professor at New York University’s Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education and Dean Emerita of the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science, will serve as an adviser to the committee and as a representative of the Cheney Society


We hope that you will visit the Bates Presidential Search website regularly for updates and information and to post your ideas and suggestions. Thank you for your support during this exciting time of transition at Bates. 

 

Sincerely yours, 




J. Michael Chu ’80 and Valerie A. Smith ‘75
Co-Chairs, Bates College Presidential Search Committee             
    

One of the most important responsibilities of the Bates College Board of Trustees is to recruit, select and appoint the President of Bates, a leader who will guide the College toward our highest aspirations for this great institution.

We write to brief you on the current presidential search process.

It is our privilege to serve as trustee co-chairs of the Bates College Presidential Search Committee, which has now been fully constituted. The full committee membership is:

Valerie Smith ’75
Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee and Member, Bates College Board of Trustees

Michael Chu ’80, P’12
Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee and Member, Bates College Board of Trustees

Alison Bernstein P’09
Vice Chair, Bates College Board of Trustees

Michael Bonney ’80, P’09, P’12, P’15
Chair, Bates College Board of Trustees

Darrell Crate ’89
Chair of the Advancement Committee, Bates College Board of Trustees

Steve Fuller ’82, P’13
Chair of the Infrastructure Committee, Bates College Board of Trustees

Lena Sene ’00
Member, Bates College Board of Trustees

Gene Wiemers
Bates College Vice President for Information and Library Services, staff representative

Jacqui Holmes ’13
student representative

Marcus Bruce ’77
Bates College Professor of Religious Studies

Matt Coté
Bates College Associate Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean of the Faculty

Emily Kane
Bates College Whitehouse Professor of Sociology

John Kelsey
Bates College Professor of Psychology

Catharine Stimpson, LL.D. ’90
Bates College Trustee Emerita, University Professor at New York University’s Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education and Dean Emerita of the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science, will serve as an adviser to the committee.

As Presidential Search Committee co-chairs, we have asked Mary Main, Bates College Director of Human Resources, to provide staff support for committee activities throughout the search process.

Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates

The Presidential Search Committee has selected Storbeck/ Pimentel & Associates, one of the leading firms in the area of higher education presidential searches, to assist the committee in the execution of its charge.

The objective of the search process is to appoint the next President of Bates by July 1, 2012. All Presidential Search Committee members have agreed that we will be as transparent and inclusive as possible about the process while maintaining an appropriate timeline, but hold in absolute confidence the names of candidates, both during and after the search. This commitment to confidentiality is critical in order to attract the strongest possible pool of candidates.

A key part of the early stages of the presidential search process will be to engage a broad group of Bates College constituencies in articulating their aspirations for the College and the professional qualities they seek in the next Bates president. To that end, members of the Presidential Search Committee and Storbeck/Pimentel will begin a series of listening sessions this week. These initial sessions will continue periodically through at least Reunion Weekend (June 10-12), and then resume in the fall. A Presidential Search link will be available on the home page of the Bates website shortly. This site will provide a place where members of the community may find information — such as times and dates of the listening sessions — and where they may express their aspirations for the College and recommend candidates for consideration.

In addition, a group of Bates staff members from across a range of functions has been identified to interact with the Presidential Search Committee co-chairs and with Gene Wiemers, staff representative to the committee. Faculty representatives on the search committee will inform members of the faculty about the process. Other members of the search committee will serve as liaisons with the Alumni Council and Bates Parents. The student representative and a trustee on the committee will communicate regularly with students. The Trustees will be kept apprised of progress as a routine part of search committee activities.

The appointment of a strong and thoughtful leader as the next Bates College President is vital to the future of the entire institution. The search committee welcomes input from the Bates community as we engage this momentous process together over coming months.

Sincerely,
Valerie A. Smith ’75 and J. Michael Chu ’80
Co-Chairs, Bates College Presidential Search Committee