By Steve Gilliam, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 1-18-08
GREENSBORO, NC – The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Chancellor Search Committee has engaged the executive search firm Baker and Associates LLC to help find a successor for Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan.
A contract has been finalized with the Atlanta-based firm, which specializes in conducting searches for senior leadership positions in the higher education, health sciences and non-profit sectors. The firm, which has an office in Winston-Salem, is also helping to recruit the founding dean for the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering being created by UNCG and N.C. A&T State University.
Stephen C. Hassenfelt, who is chair of both the search committee and the UNCG Board of Trustees, said “We are confident that Baker and Associates will conduct a successful search for our University. We are pleased to be ready to move on to the next phase of the search – the public forums for the campus and the community on January 23 and 24.”
Committee members interviewed Jerry Baker, the firm’s owner, on Jan. 9, along with representatives of two other firms. The committee members were impressed by the firm’s extensive experience in education and non-profit searches, and its experience within the UNC system and the state.
Baker told the committee that he will have primary responsibility for the search. He outlined plans to visit the UNCG campus, and meet with the committee and key constituent groups in order to understand what the expectations will be for the new chancellor, along with the major opportunities and challenges facing UNCG.
Several of the searches conducted by Baker and Associates have been for positions of chancellor or president, and others for senior officers, including provosts, vice presidents and deans. Baker has been in the executive search business since 1976. Earlier, he was a senior partner and director of Lamalie Associates and was president of MSL International, the executive search division of The Hay Group Inc. He started Baker and Associates LLC in 2007, and spent the previous 16 years as a partner with Baker-Parker Inc.
For more information visit chancellorsearch.uncg.edu for up-to-date information on the search, or learn more about Baker and Associates at the firm's website www.baasearch.com.
Baker & Associates’ contract calls for services such as meeting with key constituent groups; helping to develop a position description; conducting a broad, national search for candidates who will be a good match for UNCG; seeking a diverse candidate pool; conducting pre-screening interviews, background and reference checks; participating in and helping to coordinate interviews; and providing other assistance to the committee.
The firm’s professional fee is one-third of the hired candidate’s total first-year compensation, with additional reimbursement for expenses related to the search. The contract states that Baker and Associates will not to solicit the person hired as UNCG chancellor as long as he or she remains in the position. In addition, Baker may not recruit any person from UNCG for two years after the new chancellor starts the job without permission from the university.
The search committee is moving quickly. On Dec. 6, Chancellor Sullivan announced her retirement, effective July 31, 2008. UNC President Erskine Bowles charged the search committee on Jan. 4 with conducting a national search and presenting him an unranked list of three candidates. He will interview the candidates and make a recommendation to the UNC Board of Governors at the June meeting.
