The student input session will be held from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, on campus in 103 Shouvlin.
“Student voices are very important in this process, and your thoughts about the attributes and qualities you would like to see in Wittenberg’s next leader matter,” President Michael Frandsen said in an email to students.
The university announced earlier this month that Frandsen was leaving the university. It did not cite if it was his decision to leave or one made by the board of trustees.
“As you know, my service to Wittenberg will end on June 30, 2025. Sharon and I are grateful for all you have added to our time at Witt,” Frandsen said in the email.
After this session, Storbeck will then begin the outreach process to find qualified candidates, and after they are chosen, the search committee will begin the selection and interview process. The team is expected to identify, interview, bring to campus and give a recommendation to the board by spring 2025.
The search comes after an August announcement that the Wittenberg University faculty voted no confidence in the university’s board of directors, which also approved a plan in mid-August that would eliminate the jobs of 30 faculty and 45 staff, as well as some programs and sports.
The university recorded a $17 million deficit in the 2022-23 school year, according to its tax records. They spent about $96 million that year, and about $26 million was spent on salaries and benefits for staff. The Board of Directors has said it plans to fully eliminate its forecasted financial operating losses by fiscal year 2027.
Wittenberg is a 179-year-old private liberal arts university just north of downtown Springfield. The university said it had 1,288 undergraduate students and 45 graduate students as of fall 2023, along with 25 intercollegiate athletic teams in NCAA Division III.
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