College still doesn't have new president

Unable to agree on any of 4 finalists, St. Mary's trustees will continue search

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

Four finalists visited the campus last month — Katherine Conway-Turner, James Bacchus, MaryAnn Baenninger and Joseph Bruno — before the trustees met Oct. 3 for an executive session and again by teleconference Oct. 19 to discuss the selection. According to a statement from the trustees, "the inability to reach a strong consensus was a significant factor [in continuing the search] as was the fact that some candidates withdrew from consideration."

"We want somebody that's going to keep St. Mary's in the front and we're willing to spend the time and effort to find the person to do that," Jim Muldoon, chair of the trustees, said Thursday. He said the trustees "reached a fairly strong consensus that we should keep looking."

Muldoon said the four finalists are now out of the running for a variety of reasons, but that other applicants who had not previously made the cut could be reconsidered. "I don't think any of the four that were the finalists are still in the game," he said.

However, other trustees who asked not to be named said this week that from their point of view, at least one of the four finalists could still be considered.

The finalists had been narrowed from more than 100 applicants by a search committee made up of trustees as well as faculty and student representatives. "The trustees were impressed by the caliber of the final candidates who visited campus," a statement by the trustees released Wednesday said.

Maggie O'Brien earlier this year stepped down as president after 13 years. She is on one-year paid leave and is expected to return next summer as a professor overseeing the college's partnership program with a college in England.

Molly Mahoney, trustee secretary and chair of the search committee, said that about one-third of college presidential searches in the nation are extended. "It's not that unusual," she said.

Mahoney said the process for the new search has yet to be ironed out by the trustees but it will be soon; no timeline has been established for the new search.

The trustees praised students and faculty for participating in the selection process through forums on campus as well as by providing written feedback.

Each of the four finalists visited the campus during September for three days with expenses covered by the college, Mahoney said.

Many of the same student, faculty, community and even trustee faces were seen at each of the candidates' forums during those visits.

Bacchus is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida, who also has worked as a lawyer, a lobbyist and as appellate judge on the World Trade Organization. Conway-Turner last year left her position as provost and vice president of academic affairs at State University of New York at Geneseo and started her own consulting company for higher education institutions. Baenninger is the president of the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota. Bruno is the vice president for academic affairs and provost as well as a professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University in Middleton, Conn.

The only organized public effort against a candidate came in the form of two petitions — one from a group of about 166 alumni and one from current students — questioning candidate Bacchus. Two sources said this week that Bacchus was a top contender for the position.

"We continue to feel that [Bacchus'] background is a strange fit for the college, with little connection to the state, region, to higher education or to core programs that distinguish the institution," alumnus Ben Wyskida said in a letter to the trustees on behalf of the alumni who signed the petition. "We're also concerned that his business background may not translate into success as an institutional fundraiser for a liberal arts college."

Larry Vote, provost and acting president, will continue to serve as president until an appointment is made.

"I feel that Tom Botzman [vice president for business and finance] and I are doing well in our roles and supported by an excellent staff," Vote said Wednesday.

In addition to O'Brien's departure, the position of vice president for development, which was the college's top fundraising spot, was vacated by Torre Meringolo earlier this year when he took a job with another college.

jyeatman@somdnews.com