Update September 7, 2020

Dear Colorado College Community,

While I realize that the CC community is navigating the challenges and uncertainties of the pandemic, I felt you would appreciate an update on the presidential search.

To put it succinctly: the search is going very well. Through the efforts of our search consultants, Storbeck Search & Associates, and members of the search committee, we have completed the recruitment phase of the search. The pool of candidates for the presidency is extraordinary-deep, diverse, very talented, and very exciting.

The search committee is now in the process of assessing candidates, narrowing the pool, and conducting interviews. After completing this assessment phase of the search, the committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, which will appoint the new president. The new president will join CC by the summer of 2021.

Neither the pool of candidates, nor the search schedule, have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. CC's excellent academic program, faculty, students, staff, location, and reputation have attracted a very impressive group of applicants.

I want to thank the entire community for your sending your thoughts about the presidency and the search and for nominating candidates. I particularly want to thank the search committee, which includes CC faculty, staff, and students as well as trustees, for their hard work over the summer, and in the weeks and months to come.

Please stay safe and well.

Sincerely,

Jeff Keller '91, P'22
Search Committee Chair
Trustee and Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

Update May 12, 2020

In my last update, I explained that the presidential search was entering a consultative phase. That phase has been completed and I'm happy to report that our meetings with the CC community were very well attended and extremely helpful. Thank you for taking the time to participate in this critical part of the search, and for sharing your ideas and observations with the committee.

During March and April, more than 100 students, faculty, and staff participated in virtual meetings with the members of the search committee and search consultant Shelly Storbeck. We learned a great deal from these virtual sessions, which were characterized by collegial, open conversations about the issues that will face the next president, the skills that person will need to succeed, and the reasons CC will be attractive to candidates. In addition, 700 members of the CC community, including alumni and families of CC students, completed an online survey. We are also very grateful to those of you who have submitted nominations for the position. We continue to welcome nominations, which you can send to ColoradoCollegePresident@storbecksearch.com.

The survey responses, and our conversations with faculty, staff, and students, have helped us prepare a position specification, which we will use to recruit candidates. You can view the position specification on the search webpage.

The search will now move into the recruitment phase, during which our search consultants will reach out to their network of experts to seek more nominations. They will also have preliminary conversations with nominees and applicants. The search committee will assist with recruitment and, keeping your input in mind, begin to assess candidates and determine which will be invited to interview for the position.

On behalf of the search committee, thank you for engaging with us in this important work. I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well.

Sincerely,

Jeff Keller '91, P'22
Search Committee Chair
Trustee and Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

Update April 2, 2020

Dear CC Faculty, Staff, and Students,

The presidential search is now in a "consultative phase" during which we are asking the CC community to give us their thoughts about the next president: what opportunities and challenges they will face, what skills and characteristics will make them successful, and what features of CC will attract candidates to the college. With this information, we will put together a description of the position, which will be used to recruit candidates.

Over the next two to three weeks, the search committee and search consultant Shelly Storbeck will meet virtually with groups of faculty, staff, and students. We also invite all members of the CC community to participate in an online survey, which you can access through the presidential search website. The survey will give everyone an anonymous way to provide feedback and make nominations and other suggestions to the committee. I look forward to hearing your thoughts as we engage in this very important work for Colorado College.

And in this difficult time, I wish you and your loved ones good health. The CC community is strong and resilient and we look forward to the time when we are back together on our beautiful campus.

Sincerely,

Jeff Keller '91, P'22
Trustee & Search Committee Chair
Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

Update March 9, 2020

The Presidential Search Committee invites all CC faculty, staff, and students to attend open forums on Wednesday, March 25.

The forums are an opportunity for you, as a member of the CC community, to provide input on these questions:

• What are the points of attraction for the position of president? What makes Colorado College distinctive?
• What challenges and opportunities will the next president address?
• What skill sets and personal attributes will the candidate of choice likely possess?

Responses to these questions will help the search committee create a position specification, which will then be used to recruit candidates.

The forums will be held in Gates Common Room, Palmer Hall at these times:

• Staff Open Forum: 10:15-11:15 a.m.
• Student Open Forum: 1:45 -2:45 p.m.
• Faculty Open Forum: 3-4 p.m.

Shortly after the forums, you will be invited to participate in an online survey and to submit nominations for the position, providing an additional way to give input to the search committee.

Update February 26, 2020

Dear CC Community,

At its meeting last week, the Board of Trustees unanimously elected Provost Alan Townsend to serve as interim president, beginning Aug. 1, 2020, and ending when a new president joins Colorado College, which we anticipate will be in Summer 2021. While Alan has informed us that he will not be a candidate for the presidency, the board and I are deeply grateful to him for assuming the interim role. We believe he will provide much needed continuity in order to pursue critical work including the implementation of the antiracism plan, the Colorado Pledge, and the Stroud Scholars program, construction of Ed Robson Arena and associated projects, planning for the future of the sciences and humanities, the climate change task force, and completion of the capital campaign.

The board, which is responsible for electing CC's presidents, also has launched a presidential search. The presidential search committee is chaired by board vice chair Jeff Keller '91 and includes nine trustees, four faculty members, two staff members, and two students. Members of the search committee are listed below, and we thank them for engaging in this very important work. The faculty members were appointed in consultation with the Faculty Executive Committee, and the staff on the committee include a member of Staff Council and a member of the president's cabinet. The student members will be the CCSGA President (who will be elected in early March) and another student appointed in consultation with the CCSGA. The search will be assisted by search consultant Shelly Weiss Storbeck, managing partner of Storbeck Search & Associates. Kim Waldron, chief of staff and special assistant to the board, will provide administrative support to the committee.

The search will begin with a consultative process to gather feedback from the CC community on the characteristics and skills desired in the new president, the challenges and opportunities that person will face, and what distinguishes CC today. The search committee will hold on-campus meetings and open forums on March 25 for students, faculty, and staff. The committee also will provide an electronic means for the CC community to submit input and nominations. In April and May, using the information gathered in this consultative phase, the search committee will create a document that describes Colorado College, the position, and the desired skills and strengths of the new president. Recruitment will then begin and the search will enter a confidential phase. The committee will share frequent updates with the CC community via email and a presidential search website. We expect a new president will be named by Winter 2020-21 and join CC in Summer 2021.

We are a distinctive, excellent institution, striving to be better, to innovate, and to provide the best liberal arts education in the country. President Tiefenthaler has strengthened the college in many ways, and Provost Townsend will continue the important work we have begun in the past few years. We will attract an excellent pool of candidates because of our strength. Presidential transitions are moments of great opportunity, but we also understand these transitions can be unsettling. As we begin the search for a new president, we must come together, with optimism and with realism, to tell our story and share our aspirations for Colorado College.

Best Regards,

Susan S. Burghart
Chair, Board of Trustees

Contact

Contact Lyrae Williams in the President's Office:
719-389-6700
14 E. Cache La Poudre St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

lwilliams@coloradocollege.edu