Campus News

Westminster College Announces Presidential Finalists

Four presidential candidates to visit campus March 8-20

SALT LAKE CITY - Westminster College announced today the four finalists that will interview for the position of president to succeed Dr. Michael Bassis when he retires in July 2012.
 
Each of the four candidates have decades of higher education experience in public or private institutions. The search for the new president attracted a diverse and highly qualified group of candidates from across the country and internationally. The number and quality of applications are a sign of Westminster’s growing national reputation and broad recognition it has received for the quality of its programs.

A presidential search committee conducted an extensive review of the entire candidate pool and after many in-depth preliminary interviews, selected the following finalists (in alphabetical order) to visit the college and meet with campus constituents:

Dr. Karla V. Hughes, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Morehead State University in Kentucky  since 2007.  She designed and completed a university-wide review of all academic programs and coordinated the development of an early college program for 22 high schools.  She serves as Chair of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Council of Chief Academic Officers and was selected as an American Council on Education Fellow in 2005.  Prior to her current position, she was dean of the College of Human Ecology at East Carolina University.  Dr. Hughes holds a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition at Kansas State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Dr. Brian L. Levin-Stankevich, chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 2006.  He initiated and led a broadly based strategic planning process and successfully moved new academic programs through the University of Wisconsin system. He obtained funding for three new construction projects (student union, academic building, recreation building) totaling $100 million. He is the recipient of the 2011 President's Award (NASPA) and the 2006 Regents Teaching Excellence Department Award. Prior to his current position, he was interim president of Eastern Washington University. Dr. Levin-Stankevich holds a bachelor's degree in history from Hamilton College and a Ph.D. from SUNY.
 

Dr. Robert D. Newman, dean of humanities since 2001 and special advisor to the senior vice president for academic affairs since 2011 at the University of Utah. He initiated new college interdisciplinary programs in international studies, Center for American Indian Languages, Latin American Studies and Center for Values and Ethics. He has increased the college external grant funding by 1,500 percent and secured funding for the new Humanities building. He is the recipient of the University Equity and Diversity Award and the Utah Humanities Council Partnership Award, both in 2008. Prior to his current position, he was Chair of the Department of English at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Newman holds a bachelor's degree in English from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Dr. Cid Seidelman, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Westminster College since 2005. He initiated international partnerships with universities in Asia, Latin America and Europe and provided key leadership in facilitating the college's paradigm shift from a teaching-centered to a learning-centered institution. He assisted in all phases of the 1998 college's $33 million capital campaign. He currently serves as Chair of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, Chair of the Board of Directors of CIT Bank, and serves on the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions Board of Directors. Prior to his current position, he was dean of the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business. Dr. Seidelman holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Eastern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Utah.

*For additional biographical information on each candidate, click their respective name.

In September 2011, Westminster’s Board of Trustees appointed a 14-member Presidential Search Committee, chaired by trustee Peter D. Meldrum, to fill the position of the president.  The committee hired the firm of Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates to conduct the presidential search. The Presidential Search Committee, working with the search firm, conducted open forum sessions with the college community and Salt Lake City community to gather information about the desired qualifications of the next president.

“The Presidential Search Committee is delighted to have such an accomplished group of academic leaders as finalists for the next president of Westminster College," said Meldrum. "Each candidate has demonstrated a passion for education and a creative approach to higher education throughout their respective careers. We were fortunate to have had such an excellent pool of candidates."
 
The next step in the selection process is for the candidates to visit the college to meet in open forums with the campus community.  The visits are scheduled for March 8-20, 2012.

Westminster’s selection for the new president will be announced in the late March or early April time frame.

For more information on the search process and additional biographical information on the finalists, visit Presidential Search.

Media Contacts:  Krista DeAngelis  and Arikka Von (801) 832-2682

About Westminster:
Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college. With a broad array of graduate and undergraduate programs, Westminster is distinguished by its unique environment for learning. Westminster prepares students for success through active and engaged learning, real world experiences and its vibrant campus community. Westminster's unique location, adjacent to the Rocky Mountains and to the dynamic city of Salt Lake, further enriches the college experience. For more information, visit www.westminstercollege.edu or follow WestminsterSLC on Twitter.