Saint Mary's student body president Elizabeth Jablonski-Diehl updated board members on the Saint Mary's presidential search and urged them to promote the candidates' upcoming campus visits at Monday's BOG meeting.
The Presidential Search Committee has worked diligently in their search for a new president for the college, Jablonski-Diehl reported. One of the most impressive aspects about the process, she explained, is the Board of Trustees' desire to include current Saint Mary's students. Jablonski-Diehl said she has worked extensively with the committee and has met many prospective candidates.
Student trustee Sara Mahoney, who will cast a vote for the new president on behalf of the student body, agreed, saying that students have a sense of the school, which non-students may lack.
"The board is not here everyday and they don't have to deal with the ins and outs," Mahoney said. "So they really do want to hear from us."
Currently, the search committee is in the process of narrowing the field of candidates down to a small but unspecified number. Each of those select candidates will be invited to campus during the month of November. Students will have the opportunity to meet and question the candidates and will then be asked to complete an online survey about them. The responses will be compiled and review by the committee and the Board of Trustees.
This is an opportunity, Jablonski-Diehl said, which students should not overlook.
"We really need to start getting students engaged because it is amazing that students are getting to meet [the candidates]," she said.
Board members were reminded that the visits to campus would include more then just students interviewing the field of candidates. They will also give the candidates' a chance to be introduced to Saint Mary's.
"This is our chance as much for us to ask them questions," said Jabloski-Diehl, "as it is to sell the school to them."
Following the candidates visit to Saint Mary's, the Presidential Search Committee will select and submit three finalists to the Board of Trustees for a vote.
In other BOG News:
u BOG voted to provide $1,440 in sponsorship money to help send 12 students to the Tax Foundation's National Conference in Washington D.C. The students, all junior business majors, will attend lectures at the four-day event.
u BOG also voted to give $765 dollars to a group of nursing students in order that they may attend a suicide prevention conference. The event will take place at the Century Center in South Bend and will outline the signs of depression as well as some techniques for handling suicidal patients.
u Saint Mary's RHA is hosting several events for Hallowing. Trick-or-treating will take place in the dorms Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. The Haunted Tunnels of Holy Cross, which includes Saint Mary's ghost stories, will take place Thursday evening from 8 to 10 p.m.
