The search for Syracuse University’s next chancellor is now about 5 months old, and the list of contenders has grown to include nearly two dozen candidates.

However, the SU community won’t know the candidates’ identities until the new chancellor is chosen.

The Chancellor’s Search Committee is currently in the process of reviewing files of between 22 and 25 applicants for the position, said Joe Lampe, chairman of SU’s Board of Trustees and of the search committee. The 20 members of the committee will rate the files to decide which candidates will receive a personal interview. Lampe hopes to see the ratings completed by the end of the month.

The candidates were drawn from a wide variety of sources, including advertisements placed in the Chronicles of Higher Education and direct nominations, Lampe said. Of the 25 individuals nominated, 10 have accepted the nomination.

Among the candidates who received nominations were two current SU administrators. One declined the nomination and the other is still considering submitting an application, Lampe said.

David Rubin, dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said he was nominated by a faculty member but declined the opportunity to leave his post in Newhouse.

‘I like my job,’ Rubin said.

Concern for the applicants’ privacy requires that many aspects of the search remain confidential, Lampe said. Disclosure of the candidates’ identities could create problems for those currently holding high-profile positions at other institutions.

The personal interviews begin in November at a confidential location outside Syracuse, Lampe said.

Release of information that could identify the candidates would not only violate their privacy, but could also derail the whole search process, said Andrew Thomson, Student Association president and student representative to the search committee.

‘If the sitting president of another institution applies and any info were leaked that would allow them to be identified, it would be detrimental to the entire process,’ Thomson said.

After conducting the personal interviews, the search committee will further narrow the field to three or four candidates for next April. The first time the university community will get a look at its new chief executive comes when he or she is introduced at the Board of Trustees’ May meeting, Lampe said.

Published on September 15, 2003 at 12:00 pm