From the Chair of the Buffalo State Council
Posted: Wednesday, September 6, 2023Presidential Search Update: First-Round Interviews to Begin
I am pleased to provide you with an update regarding the university’s presidential search.
Our Presidential Search Committee spent late spring communicating with multiple constituencies on campus, holding over 20 meetings with faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni, and community leaders. Over the last few months, we advertised the position and contacted more than 500 prospective candidates.
To date, we have received and reviewed the credentials of about 75 individuals who represent a broad range of candidates within higher education and other leadership roles.
In May and August, the Presidential Search Committee met to conduct preliminary screenings of prospective candidates and to identify individuals for face-to-face interviews. The committee focused its review on the strongest 35 applications and narrowed the group to 12 candidates. The committee will embark on a series of first-round interviews with those candidates over the next few weeks.
That group will be narrowed to five candidates who will be invited to campus to meet with a wide range of constituent groups, local leaders, and the Buffalo State Council. We are targeting the last week of September and first week of October for those meetings. The Buffalo State Council will then recommend three finalists to the SUNY chancellor for further consideration.
A search for a president requires a careful balance between transparency and confidentiality, including individual candidates’ names, until we reach the campus meetings stage. The names of the five candidates invited to campus will be released 48 hours in advance of each visit.
We thank you for understanding that the best candidates require confidentiality and that committee members have agreed to abide by this rule.
Thank you for your support as we move forward with this important search.
Sincerely,
Linda A. Dobmeier, ’71
Chair, Buffalo State University Presidential Search Committee
Chair, Buffalo State Council