The Michigan State University Board of Trustees Presidential Search Committee has finalized the position description for the next MSU president.
The position posting released on Monday asks for visionary candidates with empathy, respect for a diverse community and a commitment to transparency and collaboration.
The position also calls for the candidate to serve as the university’s top fundraiser to support the "highest caliber" research and foster outstanding education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Dianne Byrum, a co-chair of the Board of Trustees’ Presidential Search Committee says input from the 22 listening sessions informed the description.
“You see it from beginning to end in this document. Words like integrity, inclusion, students, research, experience, visionary, leader. All of those words were part of the comments that we heard through the input sessions,” she said.
Reclaim MSU, a student advocacy group that started after the scandal involving disgraced former MSU sports doctor Larry Nassar posted on its Facebook Page on October 9 that the next president should be an “external candidate who: possesses a deep understanding of sexual violence and demonstrated a commitment to preventing sexual assault and supporting survivors. “
The group also states the new president should address the lack of a public apology for failing to prevent sexual misconduct and violence involving Dr. Nassar, former MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean William Strampel and others.
Byrum says interviews should begin in the new year. The goal is to have a new president in place by June of 2019.
