Question: What happens when you mix the Quaker commitment to consensus with the need to make tough decisions?
Answer: A long interview process and months of evaluation for all open college positions.
Guilford College held open forums to introduce candidates for the director of information technology and services on April 7-8 and associate dean of students on April 11.
Since both the associate dean of students and the director of IT&S have campus-wide responsibilities, the application process is thorough and multidimensional.
“The job is posted, candidates apply online and a search committee reviews them and narrows the group down to finalists to bring to campus,” said Todd Clark, vice president of student affairs and dean of students, in an email interview. “We are in the process of bringing four finalists to campus this week. We hope to make a decision by the end of April.”
The director of IT&S is responsible for effective technology in classrooms and laboratories, technical support for personal devices and overseeing reliable access to Internet across campus.
“The ideal candidate is someone who can work with the students, faculty and staff on campus to find a way to prioritize the most pressing IT needs,” said IT&S Help Desk Lead Ian Hulsey. “This requires not only technical knowledge but also diplomatic skills as everyone’s wants and needs are not always the same.”
The associate dean of students is responsible for supervising residence hall safety, administering the student conduct system and maintaining a positive student community on campus. They must also provide support for students with academic issues or disabilities and respond to student emergencies.
Students make up the largest population of the Guilford community, so the College allows them to participate in the application process.
“The interview process has included a number of opportunities for students to engage with and evaluate the candidates,” said Clark. “I felt that it was imperative for the successful candidate to be well-versed in social justice and wanted to create a space for traditionally marginalized voices to ask important questions and have essential dialogues with these candidates.”
There was limited student participation in the application process, however.
“I believe the open forums definitely help students get their voices out there as far as concerns they have with the campus and any other things they want to address with the candidates,” said junior and Community Senate Secretary Sarah Lovejoy. “However, not all of the student body is present at these forums. Therefore, not all concerns or opinions can be addressed.”
While these forums were the only ones mentioned in the Guilford Buzz, the director of marketing, assistant director of admissions, assistant director of student leadership and engagement and several instructional librarian positions were also open.
Amid the flurry of changing positions, President Jane Fernandes has received a contract extension until 2022. Members of the board of trustees hope that the extension will provide stability in leadership and allow Fernandes to fulfill long-term objectives.
“In a way, to give the president a five-year contract is like awarding a kind of temporary ‘tenure’ to her,” said Board of Trustees Chair Ed Winslow in an email interview. “I think all of us believe Jane is someone we want to keep. This is a way to do that even though she would not accept a pay raise or a bonus.”
The decision to extend Fernandes’ contract came after Fernandes produced a self-evaluation and a board subcommittee evaluated her performance in her first year. Performance in accomplishing her objectives and her responses to the financial and administrative challenges that confronted her in the first year were the specific factors analyzed in these evaluations.
Fernandes stated that she needs at least five years to accomplish her goals set for Guilford.
“We believe she is making a five-year commitment right back at us, and that is valuable to us and to the College,” said Winslow.
