Members of the Ithaca College Student Government Association executive board met with the Ithaca College Board of Trustees on Feb. 9 to discuss a plan for the presidential search.
Although he said he could not divulge everything from the meeting, senior Dominick Recckio, president of SGA, said the group discussed logistics, the SGA’s values document — a document to gauge what students valued in a president — and the search timeline.
“I’d say we had healthy progression on a couple of different topics about logistics, what’s upcoming, the timeline and how things are going to go,” Recckio said.
Recckio said he was not at liberty to discuss an official timeline for the search but that the board of trustees would soon disclose more information. According to a Feb. 7 announcement from Thomas Grape, chairman of the board of trustees, and David Lissy, vice chairman of the board of trustees, “Our goal is to be as transparent as possible at each step along the way to identifying the next president of Ithaca College.”
President Tom Rochon is set to retire July 1, 2017, after announcing his resignation Jan. 14 following a semester of protests led by the group POC at IC and student and faculty votes of no confidence. The search for his replacement is set to begin Summer 2016.
The board of trustees released a presidential search page on the college’s website following the Feb. 7 announcement. According to the search page, the board plans on selecting the executive search firm by the end of February, selecting the presidential search committee by March and involving the campus community in the search in March and April.
Recckio said the SGA will begin an application process for students who are interested in participating in the presidential search committee, a group of campus community members who will assist in the search for a new president. Following the application process, the SGA will suggest students to the board for the board to choose from. He said there are still logistical matters to work out with the trustees before he can “put together” the application.
According to the Feb. 7 announcement, Grape and Lissy hope to name the search committee prior to beginning the campus dialogues so its members can be included during the listening sessions in March and April.
SGA executive board members who attended the board of trustees meeting were Recckio; senior Evan Layne, vice president of business and finance; senior Kyle James, vice president of academic affairs; and Senate Chair Marieme Foote, a sophomore. Grape and Lissy represented the board of trustees at the meeting.
The board will have also met with the executive committees of Faculty Council and Staff Council by Feb. 11.
