Presidential Search

January 2009

To the University Community:

Our search for a President of Cleveland State University to succeed Michael Schwartz is progressing nicely, and is on schedule. As described in earlier communications, we have created a Search Committee to identify and recruit candidates for the position. A search consulting firm has been retained to advise the Search Committee and research the world of higher education for appropriate candidates. The selection of the new President will be made by the Board of Trustees.

The work of our search advisory firm, Heidrick & Struggles, is in full swing. It began with the creation of a position description, posted on this website as an information piece for the Cleveland State community as well as for potential candidates for the position. If you haven’t read the position description, I would urge you to review it.

As a center point of our effort is the mission and purpose of the search, which is to recruit the best President for the University. That is the goal of our process.

We have conducted a series of meetings with faculty, deans, the Cleveland State Foundation Board, public officials and others to gain suggestions on the attributes and background needed for this position and to update them on our progress.

Heidrick & Struggles has begun their work of researching the world of higher education for potential candidates and are dialoging regularly as to their findings. They have reviewed dozens of names and will be providing periodic updates for the committee as a whole. Non-traditional candidates without the majority of their experience in higher education will be considered as well.

I am pleased to report that the progress made by CSU under the leadership of Mike Schwartz is well known in higher education and has attracted interest in our search.

In the past, we have invited suggestions or nominations for the position and have received some excellent ones. Notwithstanding the progress with the search to date, we still invite further names for the process. They should be submitted to: Bonnie W. Gwin, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles, 600 Superior Avenue East, Suite 2500, Cleveland, OH 44114-2650, and Email: csu@heidrick.com.

On a personal basis, I am encouraged by what I see and look forward to providing more reports on the work of the Search Committee as we move forward.

Ronald E. Weinberg
Chairman