Presidential search student forum garners small response – The Cauldron
By Anna Toth
In the second week of school, the Presidential Search Committee held two forums for students to get their input on what they wanted from the next university president. The student forums were held on Sept. 6 and 7, with roughly 15 students attending both days according to forum organizers.
In a previous article published in The Cauldron, Associate Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Rob Spademan said that the input from students in these forums would be used to help craft a job description. After that, the presidential search would be entirely in the hands of the committee.
For students that were passionate about getting involved in the presidential search, the student forums were their best bet to make their voices heard. Interested students were asked to RSVP prior to the events on Sept. 6 and 7.
About 30 interested students sent an RSVP to the event, according to Spademan, and only half of that number actually showed up. Spademan also explained that this is normal for events like these.
On Sept. 6, around six or seven students showed up to the first forum, with people going in and out as the hour went on. A representative from Wheless Partners — the hiring firm brought on by the university to help find the new president — led these students in a discussion, about what students thought the university’s strengths and challenges were, as well as what qualities they want the new president to have.
John DeMarco, a Cleveland State undergraduate student and Presidential Student Ambassador from the 1964 Society, said that he wanted the next president to be charismatic and involved with events on campus.
“No one ever forgets the guy who came to an event, smiled and shook your hand,” DeMarco said.
Students in attendance that day also weren’t afraid to voice the changes that they wanted to see in the university as a whole, from offering more night classes to expanding on certain programs. But they were still only a small portion of the student body.
Much more feedback was heard from the faculty and staff forums, which experienced an attendance of 150 members total.
Regardless of the small number of students, the search for the university’s next president goes on, with students and faculty finding out who the new president is next year.