As the search for a new vice president of student affairs is winding down, the search committee is looking up.
Bradley has been without a VPSA since December 2012 when Alan Galsky stepped down to “attend to serious family illness” and Nathan Thomas, interim VPSA, stepped up to the plate.
Candidates under consideration will be publicly announced April 14.
The search for the new vice president is still ongoing, but Search Committee Chairman and Dean of the Slane College of Communications and Fines Arts Jeffrey Huberman said that with the number of quality applicants interested from around the country, it was obvious that Bradley is a real destination of choice.
“We are in competition with a lot of other universities that are of high quality and are also searching for a [VPSA],” Huberman said. “When we began the search, there were at least 35 universities looking to fill the same type of position as well.”
Huberman said the biggest influence in the process of creating a job description, analyzing and narrowing down candidates and eventually the hiring of a new vice president was University President Joanne Glasser.
“She explained to us the qualities that she insisted upon for this position,” Huberman said. “For her, one of the top qualifications this person had to have was a demonstrable passion for student success, because she is absolutely a student-first president.”
Huberman said the search started later than other schools but the committee is trying to move through the process with deliberate speed.
“We feel we are working very efficiently, and we would hope to have candidates on campus soon,” he said.
To develop a job description, Huberman said the committee began by looking at competitiors’ job descriptions to study and educate themselves on the details on the position of VPSA.
Following the development and posting of the job description as well as the reception of applications, the committee used a screening document to screen all of the applications that came in.
“We used a weighted point system, which was a way for us to read every application,” Huberman said. “Then we were able to create some spreadsheets and charts to see where we agreed and where we didn’t, which helped us to cut it down substantially.”
Huberman said Glasser’s review and concurrence was essential to each part of the process, especially when it came to final decisions.
“We went through a series of video conference interviews already, and now we’re giving more personalized attention to the candidates,” Huberman said. “We will recommend to the president a list of finalists to come to campus for interviews, but the final decision is hers to make.”
Huberman said the search committee has been excellent to work with and that he is excited about the future of student affairs.
“We are very hopeful that this process will play out so that we are able to hire a terrific next [VPSA],” he said. “This is the first time Bradley has searched for a [VPSA] in more than 30 years because Galsky held that position for so long.”
Huberman also said the position is a vital part of Bradley’s success as well as Glasser’s mission.
“When [Glasser] arrived on campus, student success is so important to her that she elevated that position from associate provost to vice president that reports directly to her,” he said. “Galsky retired last year with great honor, great affection and great respect, so this is the first time the university has sought to fill this position.”
