Ohio University announced that its Board of Trustees will request input from students, staff, faculty, alumni and other stakeholder groups through comprehensive surveys as they begin to search for President Hugh Sherman’s successor throughout the 2022-23 academic year.
Sherman’s two-year term as OU’s 22nd president will end June 30, 2023. To ensure the Board considers input from the OU community, surveys will be conducted by The Collective Genius, a Columbus-based consulting group, to gauge outside thoughts and opinions.
According to the university’s release, the surveys will be distributed across OU’s Athens and regional campuses to all students, faculty, staff and alumni online. However, paper surveys will be available to employees with limited email access.
“It is important to the Board that our faculty, staff and students as well as alumni, partners and other members of our broader Bobcat community have a voice in the process,” said Peggy Viehweger, chair of the Ohio University Board of Trustees. “Our first order of business in the process is to collect that input.”
The Board will also engage in meetings and conversations with the Faculty Senate, Student Senate, Dean’s Council, Alumni Association boards, the Council of Student Leaders, the President’s Student Cabinet for Inclusive Excellence, as well as many other leadership and student groups.
The Board is currently looking to finalize a 15-member search committee that includes a variety of representation across OU stakeholder groups, as well as hiring a search firm to assist with the recruitment of potential hires.
The survey’s findings will be compounded into a report, which will be released during the October Board of Trustees meeting.
