Message from Presidential Search Committee Chair Dr. Patricia Hill Williams
Dear Members of the Campus Community
As chair of the search committee, I write to update you on preliminary steps that
have been taken in coordination with the SUNY Chancellor’s Office to begin the process
of finding a successor to President John Nader, who intends to retire on June 30,
2024.
Recommending presidential candidates to the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees is
a major role of the College Council and requires engagement from a cross-section of
campus community members. I am grateful to President Nader for providing us a long
runway to find the best candidate to lead this institution and thank him for his outstanding
leadership over these last years.
Search Firm:
The SUNY Guidelines on Presidential Searches require the campuses to hire a search
firm to support the national recruitment of qualified candidates. I am happy to report
that we have secured the services of RPA, a nationally recognized comprehensive executive
search firm with more than three decades of service to higher education, including
many successful searches for SUNY System Administration and several SUNY campuses.
In consultation with Zulaika Rodriguez-Awoliyi, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Presidential
Recruitment, Evaluation, and Development in the Office of the Chancellor, we have
decided to pursue a newly available hybrid approach for search firm services within
SUNY. The hybrid model, long used by RPA in many searches, is more cost effective
for the campus, while allowing us to tap into the expertise and national networks
of RPA during the early recruitment phases of the search, and relying on the expertise
of Ms. Rodriguez-Awoliyi to support the search committee throughout the process.
Virtual Campus Listening Sessions:
Virtual campus listening sessions with RPA, Inc., will be scheduled. These sessions
will be focused on the representatives facilitating a conversation to hear from you
about the highlights of the institution, the opportunities and challenges the next
president may face, as well as the characteristics you would be looking for in the
next president.
We encourage you to attend a listening session to provide your input to the search
firm on the qualities and strengths for the next president of Farmingdale State College.
The information gathered in these sessions will be used to help develop a presidential
search profile that will outline the competencies we seek in prospective candidates
and the opportunities Farmingdale State College offers.
Participation in the listening sessions and through the campus-wide survey allows
for wider input into the search process.
Campus Survey:
We also invite you to provide your feedback by completing the Presidential Characteristics Survey. Information shared in the survey will be compiled by Ms. Rodriguez-Awoliyi and shared
with the Search Committee and RPA, Inc. to assist them in selecting strong and effective
leadership for FSC. Responses are anonymous and the survey will close Friday, November 17, 2023.
Our goal is to find the best fit for our next leader and we need your help to be successful.
We strongly encourage participation on the search committee, in listening sessions,
and through the campus-wide survey, which allows those who could not attend a listening
session to have input into the search process.
To have a confidential discussion about this opportunity or to make a nomination,
email Dana John Cohick, RPA president, at FarmingdalePresident@rpainc.org.
For process questions, please contact Zulaika Rodriguez-Awoliyi, Assistant Vice Chancellor
for Presidential Searches at Zulaika.Rodriguez@suny.edu.
Best,
Dr. Patricia Hill Williams
Farmingdale State College Presidential Search Committee Chair
College Council Chair
