Presidential Search in Today’s Environment: How Technology Has Changed the Process

A search for a new college or university president is often described as the most important decision a governing board will make. The appointment of the person who will be an institution’s next president will shape that college’s, university’s, or system’s strategic direction for years to come.

Technology has supported this work for decades and is used for a variety of tasks: to build a link on the institution’s website that provides additional information about the campus and the greater community; to keep campus constituents apprised of the progress of the search; and a tool to announce the search and provide periodic updates.

Technological innovation has accelerated over the past decade. New tools like virtual meeting platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed how committees meet, review applications, and interview candidates. As Melissa Trotta and I describe in the third edition of A Complete Guide to Presidential Search for Universities and Colleges, these and other resources support the work and provide new opportunities for institutions to conduct inclusive searches that find the best candidates.

Now more than ever, a governing board and search committee need every advantage in finding, vetting, and engaging outstanding leaders. We are in what many describe as the most challenging of times in the history of higher education. Technology is not a replacement for the judgment, discretion, and relationships that boards and committee members value. It is what frees committees to focus on them more effectively.

We Can Hear You: Virtual Meeting Platforms

For years, search consultants and search committees met only in-person, usually on campus, to plan, organize, and conduct a presidential search, but in the COVID-19 pandemic years these tasks moved from in-person to virtual meetings. “Best practice” strategies remained the focus, but “social distancing” became part of our daily lives.

Some of these virtual practices continue today, to the benefit of many search committees and candidates. Technology can help the committee and consultants focus on planning, strategizing, and developing the search timeline. It also helps widen the potential audience for the position profile, expedites the application process, and can remove financial and logistical burdens in interviews.

Online platforms allow search committees to meet remotely at times that are convenient for members’ schedules. The committee can also host virtual listening sessions with the governing board, faculty members, and members of the campus community to gain insight into their priorities and the qualities they seek in the next president. As an added benefit, committees may offer an online survey asking respondents to share priorities, outline their approaches to leadership, and provide additional thoughts related to the search. With trustee and campus community input in-hand, the committee forms a position profile for the board’s approval, then posts it on the institution’s website and shares it with candidates.

Another change from in-person meetings: Institutions or their search consultants can create a secure portal for the search committee to accept and review applications. These digital tools provide central digital repositories for recordkeeping and allow the search committee’s members to have greater flexibility to meet, vet the candidate pool, and select a “short-list” of candidates for a first round of interviews.

Today, many search committees host the first round of interviews virtually, allowing for scheduling flexibility and cost savings due to no travel expenses. When well-planned, a virtual interview allows the candidate and search committee to have an in-depth and candid conversation about the leadership needs of the institution and the candidate’s thoughts about how they would plan to lead and address those needs.

Some institutions seeking new presidential leadership elect to conduct the search using a hybrid model (some meetings in-person and others remote/virtual). This allows the search committee to host “townhall” listening sessions with trustees, faculty, and other members of the campus community in-person. Trustees and search committees can then use virtual platforms to gather input from those unable to attend the in-person sessions and alumni living away from campus. The first round of interviews may be hosted virtually, but candidates selected as finalists are most often invited to campus to meet and interact with trustees, faculty, staff, and students; tour campus; and visit the community.

AI Augments the Search Process

Governing boards and search committees must recognize that the emergence of AI offers a “next generation” of digital tools in the search process. These tools have a profound impact on higher education that extends beyond the classroom, faculty, and administration.

AI’s benefit is its ability to collect and process vast amounts of data. Search firms now use AI to help identify candidates matching the leadership criteria the board and campus community seek. In addition, AI can assist with reference checking and deep research into a candidate’s professional writing, social media posts, and academic research.

However, a human element is still required to achieve “best practice” outcomes. Committee members and search consultants must continue to speak with the candidates’ references, seek feedback, and make the ultimate decisions, but AI can be a powerful partner in this work.

Conclusion

The presidential search process has changed since the pandemic. As technology continues to evolve, search firms, governing boards, and search committees will need to rethink how to work more closely with technology in the selection and appointment of the person who will be an institution’s next president.

The challenges facing higher education are significant, but when governing boards and search committees understand how to use these technological tools, they will be better prepared to conduct an inclusive search, support their new campus leader, and set their institutions on a sustainable path in the future.

Coming soon: Part two of this blog series will continue to explore the many phases of search work; the role of the board chair and trustees; how search committees can effectively lead; and how commitment to best practice and communication with campus constituents is a successful formula. The next generation of presidential searches will be defined not by technology alone, but also by those committees that learn how to use it and follow other best practices.

James (Jamie) P. Ferrare, PhD, is an executive search consultant and the founding managing principal of AGB Search.