As you may already know Brandon University’s former President, Dr. Gervin Fearon, left BU last year. After saying our goodbyes, Dr. Robinson assumed the role of interim President while our school would undertake the task of finding a suitable successor. Why should the average undergrad student care? As BUSU President Nick Brown, a member of the Presidential Search Committee puts it, the President of a University is like the Captain of a ship. It is he that will direct the further growth of BU down a path that is beneficial to the community and the student body.
The search has not yet filled the void at the top of our school, and Brown says that we will likely only welcome our next President in January 2019. Brown has taken part in previous searches, all of which took nowhere near this length. The empty Vice-President (Academics) seat was populated in only five months.
The reason for this prolonged interval of vacancy is that a Presidential search is a different beast entirely. Everything is done in secret so as not to compromise the current positions of the prospective Presidents, and of course in choosing your future leader speed is a lesser virtue than careful deliberation.
In contention for the position are persons with higher level management experience. This will prove crucial as the new President assumes the responsibilities of his office in continuing to build on the growth momentum BU has been enjoying in the past few years.
What are students saying? At a student consultation on January 15th, members of the student body said they care little for the education level of the candidates and find the character of any incumbent president more important, that he be able to connect with the nature of rural and aboriginal influences on BU.