Ithaca College

Dear Ithaca College Community Members:

Recently, Ithaca College Board of Trustees Chairman, Tom Grape '80, wrote to inform you of the Board’s commitment to conduct regular reviews of the performance of our president and about our plan to conduct an extensive Comprehensive Presidential Assessment in 2013.  This upcoming process involves inviting input from representatives of the different constituencies that comprise the Ithaca College community.  The purpose of today’s communication is to let you know the methodology we are using for selecting participants in the process.

As outlined in Tom Grape’s previous communication:

·  We are adopting the recommended best practices of the Association of Governing Boards (AGB), the national higher education organization that works with college and university governing boards.

·   Dr. Douglas Orr, an experienced academic administrator will serve as our consultant. Dr. Orr served for 15 years as president of Warren Wilson College in Ashville, North Carolina.  He will conduct group interviews with various members of the College community, including representatives of the faculty, staff, students, alumni, community leaders, senior officers, and the Board of Trustees.

·   The Board will use the input from these interviews to share with the President the perspectives of the constituent interview groups for the purpose of enhancing awareness, providing opportunities for the President to strengthen leadership capabilities, and to revisit priorities and responsibilities as necessary, all with the purpose of meeting the evolving needs of the College. 

·   None of the comments from the interview groups will be reported in ways that could identify the individual source.  The results of this process will not be made public, as this is a confidential personnel matter between the Board of Trustees and the President.

·   A series of interviews will be conducted at a designated site on campus on March 26 – 28, 2013. Each will last approximately one hour.

·   Dr. Orr thereafter will present his report to the Board of Trustees in executive session at the May board meeting. 

The Board recognizes the importance of selecting a sample of individuals from the Ithaca College community who truly represent the essence of the feedback for the President. Accordingly, there are eight groups of constituencies represented.

1.      Faculty.  There will be 3 faculty groups, totaling 30-36 participants.  The Assessment Committee was provided a list of 60-80 full time faculty (tenured, tenure track and not on the tenure track) from various representative bodies of the faculty.  We determined that those randomly selected for interviews will include:

·  All members of the Faculty Council Executive Committee
·  A 2/3 random sample of the remaining members of the Faculty Council
·  A sampling of faculty leaders within each of the five schools, as identified by the deans   from which 2/3 will be randomly selected for participation
·  A 2/3 random sample of faculty members on the key college committees on which faculty serve:  Academic Policies Committee, Committee on Curricular Requirements, Promotion & Tenure Committee, and the IC 20/20 Advisory Committee 

2.  Provost’s Council.  The Assessment Committee was given 12 names.  Those selected for interviews include deans, associate provosts, assistant provosts and top leaders in the Division of Student Affairs. 

3.  Administrative Leadership.  The Administrative Assembly includes 84 people who each head an office or division.  Excluding those already on the Provost’s Council and President’s Council, a random selection of the remaining 65 names was created to achieve a pool of 20 names.

4.  Staff.   There will be 20 individuals selected for interviews.  Those selected for interviews include:

·  All members of the Staff Council Executive Committee
·  A random selection of staff drawn from a list provided by Staff Council, but with no  more than half of this pool being individuals currently on the Staff Council

5.  Students.  There will be 26 individuals selected for interviews.  Those selected for interviews include:

·  All members of the Student Government Association Executive Board
·  A random selection from representatives of the SGA and leaders in major student clubs or organizations

6.  Alumni. The Alumni Board was invited to be part of the alumni focus group. The Alumni office in the Division of Institutional Advancement identified an additional five alumni in the region who have been active with the College. 

7.  Community Leaders.  A group of 22 community leaders has been selected. This includes local governmental and civic leaders, leaders from community partner organizations ranging from Longview to United Way, and other individuals (e.g. in the K-12 school district and at the other area colleges).  

8.  President's Council.  There are five vice presidents and one assistant vice president on the President’s Council.  We will restrict this focus group to that body. 

The individuals identified through the above process will be notified of their selection within the next week. If someone is unable to serve we will return to the respective list of nominees to ensure the interview focus groups have good representation.   We have gone through every action to plan a productive, inclusive and confidential process for the Board’s comprehensive presidential assessment and are confident the results will provide important feedback for President Rochon as he continues to lead the College.

Kindest regards,

David Lebow ‘83
Vice Chair Board of Trustees