A new era for SSC
Search begins to fill president position
The Salem Gazette. Dec. 15, 2006. Vol. 2 No. 14.
The presidential search committee includes:
Richard Bane, committee chair and chair for the board of trustees from 2000-2002,
David Abdoo, a SSC graduate class of ‘97 and a trustee;
Deirdre Sartoelli, SSC graduating class of ’83 and former chair for the board of trustees;
Christine Sullivan, executive director of the Enterprise Center;
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, SSC graduating class of ’89;
Nate Bryant, Director of Admissions;
Henry Bertolon, SSC grad and the namesake of the schools new business school;
Karen Morrissey, former chair for the board of trustees and chair of the committee that selected Harrington;
Dr. James Collen, Professor of Geological Sciences;
Paul McGee, former President of the SSC teachers union and an accounting professor;
Michael Mitchell, SGA President and student liaison to the committee.
A new era will begin at Salem State College when Dr. Nancy D. Harrington steps down as president on June 30, ending 17 years of service at the institution.
The 12th president of Salem State College, Harrington was the first female, first Salem native and first SSC graduate to hold the position. She leaves big shoes to fill.
Benjamin Navon, editor in chief of Salem State’s newspaper, The Log, said that the new president should “work as hard as Nancy Harrington to attain university status.”
While Harrington was with the DGCE, the school added programs for Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Business Administration; also creating a Master of Social Work program, the first of it’s kind in Massachusetts public higher education. With this growth of the school, Navon pointed out recent increases in student fees.
“I hope the new president realizes that passing the cost of education to students like this is problematic,” Navon said.
To find a suitable replacement for Harrington, the board of trustees selected a committee of 11 men and women in touch with the needs of Salem State College to choose candidates who will then be reviewed by the board.
“My primary objective is to receive as much student feedback as possible with respect to what students want from their new school president,” said Michael Mitchell, the Student Government president and student liaison to the committee.
Issues brought to his attention include availability of classes, and that the candidate must be active on campus and at student events, taking pride in the school the way the students do. The students also told Mitchell that the new president must be “sensitive to issues of diversity,” Mitchell said.
Assisting the search committee, in what committee chairman Richard Bane said is an “exhausting process,” is the Chicago-based executive search firm Witt/Kieffer. The tenth-largest executive search firm in the nation, Witt/Kieffer guarantees that “if the executive placement leaves before one year, [Witt/Kieffer] will conduct a search for a replacement at no charge to the client (excluding expenses).”
The firm has handled president searches at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and at the University of New Hampshire.
Bane, a Marblehead native, said the committee chose Witt/Kieffer “because of their national presence and experience, along with a local knowledge of public higher education.”
“It is a needs-based assessment compiled after a broad college community input,” Bane said.
The committee has a “self-imposed” deadline of May 1, 2007 to select finalists for approval by the board of trustees. Harrington sees a bright future for SSC, no matter who follows her as president.
“I know that this fine institution will continue to move forward because of all the dedicated individuals that comprise SSC,” she said in a statement to the college community.