Community Updates
March 26, 2021
TO: Members of the Dominican University Community
FROM: Kevin Killips ’79, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee
SUBJECT: Dominican University Presidential Search Update
On behalf of my colleagues on the Presidential Search Committee, I would like to update the Dominican University Community on the progress we have made in the search process for Dominican’s next President.
I am pleased to report that, after several months of diligent effort, the Search Committee has arrived at the finalists stage in our comprehensive process.
As I mentioned in my update of 1 March the finalists will meet, on a confidential basis, with an expanded group of the Dominican University Community in the coming days. This process will include faculty, staff, administrators, students and trustees. This expanded group will share their feedback with the Search Committee. The feedback will be considered as the committee finalizes its report to the University’s Board of Trustees. The candidates will also have an opportunity to meet with President Carroll.
We are in the final stages of our search process and ask for your continued support. Please feel free to reach me at PresidentialSearch@dom.edu with any questions.
March 1, 2021
TO: Members of the Dominican University Community
FROM: Kevin Killips ’79, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee
SUBJECT: Dominican University Presidential Search Update
On behalf of the Presidential Search Committee I would like to provide a brief update on our activities and progress.
We are pleased to report that the search process for Dominican's next President is progressing well and within our collective expectations. During February, working with our search consultants, we identified candidates whose backgrounds and experience appeared to be well aligned with the qualities and qualifications established for the position. We are very encouraged by the level of interest and in fact received over 90 formal responses. As the month of February progressed, the Committee completed a multi-session effort to consider a robust and diverse pool of candidates to advance for confidential preliminary interviews. This process was completed last week and we are scheduling second round of confidential interviews with a smaller group of well qualified candidates.
Our search consulting team and I indicated early in the process that the need for confidentiality could be a top priority for leading candidates to even participate in the search. Indeed, that was and remains the case. These candidates hold significant positions in their respective institutions. We want to honor their wishes as they explore this exceptional opportunity at Dominican. We want them to be confident that their participation in our search will not be known at their home institution.
While many institutions choose to conduct the entirety of a presidential search as a closed confidential process, others like Dominican would like to create a process for some additional opportunities for constituent groups to engage confidentially with the candidates and provide input to the Search Committee. We are currently exploring a process that would create opportunities for representative members of the Dominican community to engage confidentially with candidates in the final stages tentatively scheduled in late March. We expect to communicate the details in the near term. We believe that additional exposure will help inform the candidates understanding of Dominican and will create a bilateral flow of information while still allowing us to honor our commitment to candidate confidentially.
Thank you for your continued interest and support. I will provide additional updates as the search moves into its latter stages. Please feel free to reach me at PresidentialSearch@dom.edu.
–Kevin Killips
December 22, 2020
TO: Members of the Dominican University Community
FROM: Kevin Killips ’79, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee
SUBJECT: Dominican University Presidential Search Update
I hope this outreach finds you pointed toward a wonderful holiday break.
I am writing to share an update on the work of the University’s Presidential Search Committee as well as the ways you can continue to assist in the search for Dominican University’s next president.
We would like to thank all of you who participated in conversations with our consultants Julie Tea, Jim Sirianni, and Julie Williams-Krishnan of Storbeck Search recently. Your insights provided the basis for the creation of the search prospectus, a valuable tool that will be used to solicit nominations and recruit candidates nationally. We invite you to view the finalized copy which is available on the University’s Presidential Search website and on Storbeck Search’s website.
As you read the search prospectus, please pay particular attention to the attributes most highly desired in our new President. We urge you to share this document among your networks, as well as to suggest people you know who could serve effectively in this important position, or those you think might know of potential candidates. Please forward their names to Julie Tea, Jim Sirianni, and Julie Williams-Krishnan at DominicanPresident@storbecksearch.com. Our search committee is well aware that the success of our search depends on the involvement of all members of Dominican’s community. Please rest assured that names and information will be treated with full confidentiality.
Over the next several weeks, we will generate a national candidate pool through nominations received from you and others, inquiries at other colleges and universities similar to Dominican in scope and mission, advertising in The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed and on a number of other relevant websites, and the work of our search firm. In February, the search committee will begin to narrow the candidate pool.
The search is off to a good start. I will write to you again as we enter subsequent stages of the process. At any time during the search, please feel free to contact me at PresidentialSearch@dom.edu with questions. I would welcome hearing from you. You have my best wishes for a blessed holiday season.
-Kevin Killips
December 15, 2020
TO: Members of the Dominican University Community
FROM: Kevin Killips ’79, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee
SUBJECT: Dominican University Presidential Search Update
I hope this outreach finds you and yours safe and healthy.
I am writing to share an update on the work of the University’s Presidential Search Committee as well as the ways you can continue to assist in the search for Dominican University’s next president and a worthy successor to President Donna Carroll.
December forums and stakeholder survey to gather community input
Since the beginning of December, we have held several virtual forums regarding the presidential search. Consultants from the executive search firm Storbeck Search have met with members of the campus community to conduct an important pre-search study. They have gathered feedback from a wide variety of constituents about Dominican’s future and our community’s hopes and expectations for the next President.
Input from the entire Dominican community is essential at this early stage of the search. We truly want to learn your thoughts about the University’s priorities and the qualities, skills, and experiences you will be seeking in the next president. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends of the University are encouraged to take a few minutes complete the confidential survey, found here:www.surveymonkey.com/r/DominicanPresident
Kindly complete the survey by Monday, December 21. The survey results will be gathered by the search firm and shared with the search committee members.
The consultants and members of the University’s marketing and communication team are hard at work developing the search profile, an important document that will describe the University as well as the leadership agenda for the next president. Feedback from the video and phone sessions as well as the survey will provide crucial content for the document. The search profile will be an important recruitment tool as we move forward with the search, and a copy will be shared with the Dominican community as we embark on our recruitment efforts.
Lastly, we urge you to suggest people you know who could serve effectively in this critically important position, or those you think might know of potential candidates. Please share your suggestions via the survey or forward any names to our consultants, Julie Tea, Jim Sirianni, and Julie Williams-Krishnan, at DominicanPresident@storbecksearch.com
Thank you for your ongoing support and participation in the search process. At any time during the search, please feel free to contact me at PresidentialSearch@dom.edu with questions. I would welcome hearing from you. You have my best wishes for a blessed holiday season.
Kevin Killips