Presidential Search Committee

The Board of Trustees has begun the search for a new President to succeed Dr. James Dlugos in the summer of 2023. The Trustees have initiated a process aimed to be as inclusive and transparent as possible. With that said, we have formed a Search Committee that is comprised of members from the following Saint Joseph’s College community – Sisters of Mercy, the Conference for Mercy Higher Education, Board of Trustees, Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.

There are two (2) members to represent each of the following three constituency groups (3) – Faculty, Staff, and Students. In the spirit of inclusivity and transparency, the staff and faculty have selected their colleagues who will represent their interests. While each member will express the views of their constituents, their paramount responsibility is to aid in selecting the best overall candidate to lead the college.

Commitments from the selected committee members are as follows:

• Protect the integrity of the search process and policy;
• Ensure the highest level of confidentiality is maintained;
• Represent and communicate the general perspective of the constituency they represent;
• Assist in developing and implementing equitable hiring practices.

The Search Committee consists of the following members:

• Carl Howell (Search Committee Chair) – ’99 & Trustee
• Jeff Moody – Trustee
• Christine Maguire – ’86 & Trustee
• Michael Mulhare – ’79 & Trustee
• Sr. Mary Morey, RSM – ’65 & Trustee
• Mouhamadou Diagne, Associate Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Dr. Julia Cavallo, Exec Director of the Conference for Mercy Higher Education
• Will Sanborn – ’86 & Head CCH and Baseball Program Director
• Dr. Liz Wiesen – Vice President for Student Life
• Dr. Patricia Waters – Assistant Professor of Education
• Dr. Steve Bridge- Professor, Chair of Theology Department
• Andrew Martin- SJC Student
• McKenna Smith – SJC Student

One of the key responsibilities of the committee members is to present the perspectives of their peer group as it relates to choosing our next President. We encourage everyone in the community to feel free to provide your representatives, or any other committee member, with feedback. The only caveat is that any personnel search, and especially one for a President, has aspects of it which are highly confidential. This is especially true when it comes to potential candidates as we must protect their identities until such time when someone is hired. Therefore, please give committee members any and all feedback but realize that they will be very limited in how they can answer. When there are things of significance to announce, the committee will inform the entire community.

We are actively interviewing national executive search firms who specialize in higher education. Each has extensive experience and success in presidential searches in Catholic and mission-based institutions. After these interviews the committee will discuss the relative merits of each firm and make our choice. We expect to announce our selection to the community in the coming weeks.

Once we have selected a search firm with whom to partner, we will finalize an overall search timeline and will communicate it to the community. On average a search of this importance can take twenty-four weeks to complete. Our goal is to select a NEW President by the end of the school year to ensure a smooth transition. You can expect that there will be periods of time, like the holidays, when you may not hear from the Search Committee for several weeks but whenever there is anything of significance to report we will certainly inform the community.

Thanks in advance for your ideas, your energy, and for making Saint Joseph’s College the special community it is. It is our vibrancy, our mission, and our community that will attract an exceptional leader.

Sincerely,
Jeff Moody
Chair, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine Board of Trustees