Search for next Southeast president begins this week

The search for a successor to retiring Southeast Missouri State University president Kenneth Dobbins will begin in earnest early next month with the arrival of Parker Executive Search, the firm hired by the university's board of regents to help find a new leader.

Dobbins announced his retirement Sept. 8, effective in June.

Representatives from Parker Executive Search will be in town from Wednesday through Friday to meet with faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members.

Forums scheduled during that time are meant to gather input on areas such as recent successes, challenges and opportunities at Southeast.

The university contracted to pay the Atlanta company a fee of $82,500, plus actual expenses incurred, such as travel, advertising and interview expenses.

Representatives also will ask for information about key attributes the next Southeast president will need.

Information from the gatherings will be used to create the position statement to recruit candidates for the position. Smaller group meetings also have been scheduled with executive staff, deans and chairs, Faculty Senate executives and committee chairmen, members of the Presidential Search and Screening Advisory Committee and the board of regents.

Doyle Privett, president of the board of regents and chairman of the search committee, said the search will be nationwide and the position will be advertised in education journals and on the Parker Executive Search website.

There may also be candidates the search firm will contact and ask to apply, Privett said.

Privett and Jay Knudtson, a regent and search committee member, say that while they are sad to see Dobbins retire, this is an exciting time for the university. Knudtson said he feels the job will attract some "superstar" applicants.

It's hoped the university will have a new president named by the end of February, but the person wouldn't start until July 1, Privett said.

Some of the attributes that have made Dobbins an effective leader are his dedication, the way he connects with everybody, his knowledge of the university system and the inroads he's made in Jefferson City, Missouri; Washington, D.C.; and St. Louis, Privett said.

"As I mentioned the day he announced his retirement, I think because Dr. Dobbins has been such an effective president and so good at what he does, it's going to ensure we're going to get a fine leader to take his place. I think everyone will like coming to Cape Girardeau because the university is in such good shape," Privett said.

Knudtson was reluctant to say what qualities he's looking for in the next president, but noted the search panel is committed to the process, which involves a diverse group of people from officials and professors to community members and students.

The search committee will make recommendations to the regents, who will make the ultimate decision.

"I do think Dr. Dobbins has served us during a time of great financial challenge, and served us well," Knudtson said. "We were able to, through his leadership, stabilize our financial condition in a time that was not easy.

"Dr. Dobbins' accounting background ... led us very, very well and put us in a position to where I believe we're probably one of the strongest universities in Missouri, aside from the University of Missouri," Knudtson said.

As a result, Knudtson said, Dobbins' replacement won't have to "come in and clean up a mess." The university is financially stable and as deep, personnel-wise, "as we've ever seen." He said Dobbins has led with great professionalism and it will be sad when he leaves, but it will also be "extremely exciting" to find someone who can build on his success.

The job requires someone who understands the complexity of academia and can nurture and develop relationships with faculty and those who report to him or her.

"If you don't have the allegiance of your faculty and your professors, you have a very difficult job," Knudtson said.

Overall, he said the job will attract "some real superstars" from across the country. He's also looking forward to compiling the profile for the new president.

"I would think this will be something many sitting presidents would take notice of ... ," Knudtson said, although it also could attract successful businessmen and -women.

"We're in a time when we have to be able to think outside the box and understand that the university has to have a business component also," Knudtson added. "The game is changing. You're talking about a university ... that was heavily reliant on state appropriations to fund its budget, that has seen that reliance decrease. We have to figure out a way to continue to brand and grow our university that's not on the backs of students. We really have to remain affordable to separate ourselves [from] other folks."

Knudtson added he's looking forward to hearing what some of the participants have to say as the process progresses.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

1 University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, Mo.