At a time when several top-level University positions are empty or in transition, the Board of Trustees made "no major decisions" last week at their meeting on campus, University spokesman Matt Storin said.
A trustee said previously the board intended to discuss strategic planning, specifically the University's the most recently launched 10-year plan.
"Obviously, they had productive meetings," Storin said, but no significant decisions were made regarding executive offices.
The status of these executive offices remains uncertain. The University has yet to fill the position of executive vice president, empty since June 30, when the resignation of Father Timothy Scully took effect. Carol Mooney, vice president and associate provost, will be leaving her office June 1 to take over as the eleventh president of Saint Mary's.
"[Provost] Nathan Hatch has begun a search process in which he will consider candidates both inside and outside the University," Storin said of the quest to replace Mooney. "He has asked the deans and department heads to suggest candidates, and he has a search consultant assisting him. The opening will be advertised in the Chronicle of Higher Education."
And while the hunts for Mooney and Scully replacements proceed, the term of University President Father Edward Malloy is scheduled to expire in 2005 - and the Board plays an integral role in deciding whether or not he will retire from the office.
Malloy has held the post since 1987, and, in 2000, he acquiesced to a request from the Board of Trustees to continue as President for another five-year term until 2005.
The Board elects the president, who must be a priest from the Indiana Province of the Holy Cross order - unlike the executive vice president, who can be a lay person. Presidential candidates are recommended by the Board's governance and nominating committee.
Last week's agenda at the Board's meeting, however, indicated nothing about the office of the president. The Board will convene again in the spring, when decisions and announcements will be more likely.
