President Search

5,920 Views | 37 Replies | Last: 9 mo ago by BigJack85
BigJack85
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Has any information leaked out regarding the presidential search progress? I was hoping we would have a new president by the spring semester.
TallTexan
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I think it'll probably be around Feb/March.
BigJack85
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TallTexan said:

I think it'll probably be around Feb/March.
. Fingers crossed they pick a good one.
TallTexan
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Probably the most important hire in SFA history since the first prez.
SFA Jack Fanatic
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TallTexan said:

Probably the most important hire in SFA history since the first prez.


Have you thrown your hat in the ring, Texan? After all, it would be an upgrade from East Texas Governor.
TallTexan
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SFA Jack Fanatic said:

TallTexan said:

Probably the most important hire in SFA history since the first prez.


Have you thrown your hat in the ring, Texan? After all, it would be an upgrade from East Texas Governor.


It would certainly pay better.
SFAJack_76
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The search committee is meeting in Nacogdoches today.
BigJack85
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SFAJack_76 said:

The search committee is meeting in Nacogdoches today.




Hmmmmm.
TallTexan
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SFAJack_76 said:

The search committee is meeting in Nacogdoches today.


I will be writing a strongly worded letter regarding them losing my invite in the mail.
TallTexan
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Any updates on this?
BigJack85
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TallTexan said:

Any updates on this?


It's about time….
SFAJack_76
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The last I heard, interviews were to take place January 18-19. Not in Nacogdoches.
BigJack85
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SFAJack_76 said:

The last I heard, interviews were to take place January 18-19. Not in Nacogdoches.


Hmmmm….
TallTexan
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SFAJack_76 said:

The last I heard, interviews were to take place January 18-19. Not in Nacogdoches.


I'd assume nearer a national airport.
TallTexan
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We should be decently close to a decision on President right?
BigJack85
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TallTexan said:

We should be decently close to a decision on President right?


It's about time.
SFAJack_76
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124 original applications. Reduced to 10 by the Search Advisory Committee. The ten were interviewed by the committee in Dallas on January 18-19. They recommended five candidates to be interviewed by the UT System Board which will make the final decision. The Board has a special called meeting for February 16:

https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/offices/board-of-regents/board-meetings/agenda-book-full/2-16-2024ab.pdf

They have a scheduled meeting in Austin on February 21-22. No agenda posted yet.

It is possible (probable?) that a sole finalist is named early to mid-March. State law requires a 21 day period before the sole finalist can be named President. No names, other than the sole finalist, will be made public. I suspect the new President will not start before the end of the spring semester. It can't happen too soon. I hear from a number of folks that many things are at a standstill until then.
TallTexan
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Good to know. I'm excited to see who they pick.
NacMan
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SFAJack_76 said:

It is possible (probable?) that a sole finalist is named early to mid-March. State law requires a 21 day period before the sole finalist can be named President. No names, other than the sole finalist, will be made public. I suspect the new President will not start before the end of the spring semester. It can't happen too soon. I hear from a number of folks that many things are at a standstill until then.
I am hoping that the meeting today announces the finalist. Yes, things are at an absolute standstill on campus. Understandably, an interim president does not want to make any major decisions knowing that the next president is just weeks/months away from taking over. But budgeting is already beginning for the '24-'25 academic year and the worry is that unless they take over very quickly, the new president may not be able to actually change much of anything until Fall of 2025.
TallTexan
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They voted to invite the finalists to interview with the Regents at a future meeting.
BigJack85
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TallTexan said:

They voted to invite the finalists to interview with the Regents at a future meeting.



Let's get this going……
Axe 'Em Jacks - Class of 85'
NacMan
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New President just announced.

https://www.utsystem.edu/news/2024/02/22/ut-regents-name-neal-weaver-sole-finalist-president-of-stephen-f-austin-state-university
TallTexan
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Interesting choice.

3300 students is not a large school. Tbh, I google colleges for fun and I've never even heard of it.
NacMan
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He was also one of three finalists in 2022 for the Presidential search at Winthrop University (about 5,000 students). So he's been looking to move up to a larger university.

https://www.winthrop.edu/president-search-backup/
TallTexan
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I will say I'm cautiously optimistic.

And UT will provide a great support system for him and SFA to succeed.
BigJack85
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He's got a solid track record. Without doing a lot of research, it appears that GSW has a very robust athletics program, given the size of the university.

I'm optimistic that a leader of a school the size of GSW can move the needle at SFA. With all of the money coming in it should make the pathway to increasing enrollment a bit less challenging. The "promise plus" dollars should really have a positive impact.
Axe 'Em Jacks - Class of 85'
TallTexan
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Tool a deep dive into his background courtesy of him applying to Winthrop and there's a lot to like.

https://www.winthrop.edu/uploadedFiles/president-search/Neal-Weaver-Application.pdf

Things he's done well at past unis that I think will translate to SFA.

Building a wide donor base so that it doesn't fill like nickel and diming donors constantly.(When he started a WTAMU, their surveys showed 60% of donors wouldn't encourage their friends and family to also donate bc of issues with the past donor teams)

Delegating power down to the lowest level necessary for a decision. (He calls this out in his Winthrop introduction. I think that would rebuild a lot of faith with the faculty.)

Accomplishing big goals by doing the small things really well as a team. (At Nichols they re-examined the entire recruiting and admissions pipeline to fix the big leaks and the small leaks. Small things add up over time)

He gets the importance of Athletics.(His wife's Twitter feed is almost exclusively GSWU athletics, and he's found money for better facilities at places without a lot of cash)

Investing in the local community/economy.(Has held economic development board positions in nearly every role he's been in. That should win fans in Nac and build a better symbiotic relationship between town and school)

Managed state budget cuts without furloughing active employees(13% Georgia state budget cuts on 2021. A presidential team who can manage financials without furloughs will win a lot of fans in the SFA employees and rebuild some much needed trust).

I said back in the fall that if I could ask one question in the Presidential interviews, it would be "what's your plan to get everyone a SFA rowing in the same direction).

His background seems to be a good fit for getting that done.

If we can get the entire university pushing in the same direction, with UT's money behind us? The sky's the limit.
NacMan
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I'm going to approach this with cautious optimism. The caution is because I was too optimistic about Gordon and that optimism turned out to be tragically wrong.
TallTexan
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NacMan said:

I'm going to approach this with cautious optimism. The caution is because I was too optimistic about Gordon and that optimism turned out to be tragically wrong.

I started out with cautious optimism for similar reasons and moved to fairly optimistic mostly bc I trust UT more than I trust our old regents.
SFAJack_76
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Student-athlete.

https://www.americustimesrecorder.com/2018/09/06/gsw-president-dr-neal-weaver-was-once-an-nfl-football-player/
SFA Jack Fanatic
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SFAJack_76 said:

Student-athlete.

https://www.americustimesrecorder.com/2018/09/06/gsw-president-dr-neal-weaver-was-once-an-nfl-football-player/


Maybe he can kick SFA through the uprights of growth and success. (Oh, that was so bad it even made me cringe...)
nacluth
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TallTexan
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Jets, the official NFL team of the Lumberjacks.
TallTexan
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UT BOR voting on officially hiring new Prez today.
BigJack85
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Looking forward to a transformational president. Transformational in a very positive way.

1. Investments in our strongest academic programs
2. Initiate new academic programs that drive enrollment growth
3. Expansion of online education programs
4. Add relevant doctoral program (Environmental Science)
5A. Renewal of our athletics facilities.
5B. Focus some fundraising towards solidifying our marquee athletics programs and grow our struggling programs.
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