Searches for senior academic leaders on track
Three search committees are entering the final stages of selecting candidates for key senior academic leadership positions at Concordia, says Benoit-Antoine Bacon, provost and vice-president of academic affairs.
These advisory committees were established last fall to recruit a new dean for the Faculty of Arts and Science, a new dean for the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, and a new university librarian.
“There has been great interest from a number of very strong candidates, both internally and externally,” Bacon says. “Great hiring is key to the success of an institution and we need three exceptional hires to provide vision and leadership to these three absolutely central areas of our university.”
New process adopted in June 2013
The hiring process for senior administrators was changed in June 2013 when the Board of Governors approved a series of reforms related to the evaluation, remuneration and searches for these positions.
Photo by Concordia University
Revisions to the Policy on Senior Administrative Appointments (BD-5) included eliminating public presentations of prospective candidates to the university community and simplifying the structure of the search committees.
“Because of confidentiality concerns in this era of Twitter, public presentations have become too much of a deterent for potential candidates who have thriving and successful employment elsewhere,” says Bacon, adding that this practice has been foregone by most universities.