Executive search panel gathers campus input on the selection of JSU’s next president

Kim Bobby is a principal at the executive firm, AGB Search, charged with leading the selection of the university’s next leader. She says while there is no “unicorn” candidate, the selection committee is taking all suggestions for the nationwide search into consideration. 

“We're going to get input from all the stakeholders,” she told the attendees at one of the dozen plus listening sessions. “We're going to congeal that into a profile for the search. The profile is the North Star for the Search. It governs everything. It determines what kinds of advertisers we make. Determines all of our recruitment patterns, who we go after, how we vet those candidates.”

Some JSU community members speaking at the sessions pointed to challenges that a potential leader may face. Several spoke on sinking morale on campus, a need for transparency, and generally, mounting fatigue about the school’s frequent presidential changes while hundreds tuned in via a livestream. 

Some students have seen as many as four presidents during their time at the school, including senior business administration major, Seth Adams. 

“I hope that we get it right and also our alumni, students,” he said. “Alumni, they have been active but students that's the main issue. I think once we get the students to come together and to actually know that their voices can be heard and the action can be done, that's really the future of Jackson State. It's us. We are the future.”

Mariyah Osborne is a sophomore biology pre-nursing major from Baton Rouge. 

“ I've only seen two presidents come through,” she said. “I've known about the interim president right now and I see a lot about her but I haven't really seen anything pertaining to her but school just started. So I'm trying to be patient and just wait for it to happen eventually. The biggest challenge for me was definitely housing, being an out of state student. I was put in the hotel and that was $6,000 per semester on top of out-of-state tuition.”

JSU staff member Tina Ellis says she’s looking for a president that will put students first.  

“I think the students are the top priority,” she said. “Not saying that the faculty and staff don’ t matter because we do, but I really want to see somebody come in and engage with the students and listen to the students. Their needs, their wants, and also work with the community because the community is a big part of the university as well.”

Ellis hopes the school’s next leader will be open to adapting to the campus’s culture, and has some familiarity with HBCUs.

“I'm big on HBCUs,” she said. “Not to have anything against other universities and colleges, but I'm big on our HBCUs because of our culture.”

On October 16, the Institution's of Higher Learning's Board of Trustees voted to allow Commissioner Alfred Rankins and Trustee   Dr. Steven Cunningham to create a proposed list of individuals to serve on a Search Advisory Constituency. The list will be submitted to the Board at a later time. Individuals serving on the committee will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.