The Jackson State University Board Search Committee and Search Advisory Constituency concluded the first round of candidate interviews for Jackson State University’s next president last week.
Board members of Mississippi’s Institutions of Higher Learning worked alongside the advisory committee as well as AGB Search, a search firm hired to help guide the process.
Shamira Muhammad
The first round of interviews are complete in the search for JSU's next leader
“The success of Jackson State is critical right now, and we need a good leader who's going to carry it and build on the history of Jackson state and carry it into its next phase of success,” said John Sewell, IHL’s director of Communications. “The candidates that are here are all interested in taking on that important role.”
Sewell said he’s optimistic about the potential outcome of the search.
“This has been a good process so far. The board committee, the search advisory constituency with its stakeholders from Jackson State have been working well together, and we are really making strong progress in the process and pushing towards toward the end,” he said. “We're seeing light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully we will have that new leader in soon.”
JSU is currently run by interim President Dr. Denise Jones Gregory, who is allowed to submit an application. The Historically Black College and University (HBCU) has had three presidents within the past five years, after last year’s abrupt departure of former President Marcus Thompson.
Sewell said the search is focused on a leader that can revamp the campus.
“Jackson State is working toward R1 status with its research as a research institution,” he said. “So that's going to be a critical part of this as well.”
Mark Dawson, chair of the alumni advocacy organization “Thee 1877 Project” agrees. JSU is Mississippi’s largest historically black university and its only urban institute. But, Dawson said its stability has been rattled by the rapid fire departure of multiple presidents.
“We really need someone who can come in and focus on getting housing straightened out, getting our enrollment back up, increasing the alumni engagement,” he said.
IHL declined to confirm the number of candidates participating in the initial round of interviews, but Dawson is hoping the community will have the chance to be notified of the top three candidate’s identities.
“It increases transparency and makes sure that the community is aware of what's going on,” he said. “It also helps everyone involved to not repeat the mistakes that we've had in the past, of where the committee has outright rejected a candidate and then IHL appointed them anyway. Or in the case of where someone who didn't even apply was appointed.”
The second round of confidential interviews will occur in the coming weeks.