Aside from monitoring George Brown College’s (GBC) operations and evaluating key performance indicators, GBC’s board of governors is dealing with a task they haven’t had to worry about in over 18 years: finding a new president.
Anne Sado announced her retirement last November. She will step down from the role she has held for nearly two decades this summer.
“Things have changed since we last hired a president,” said Kevin Costante, the chair of the board of governors. “There’s a different world out there with the pandemic and all sorts of things.”
Costante says that the interviews and presentations will occur virtually. As of right now, Costante says that the search committee is still collecting data and researching the correct personality traits for the next leader.
“We are in the consultative phase,” said Costante.
The team first began by establishing a search committee of nine members who are part of the board of governors from November to December. The first step of the journey was to hire a search firm, which took several weeks to conclude.
“Back before Christmas, we needed a search firm to help us with the process,” said Costante. “After Christmas, we chose a successful firm that put forth a good proposal. They have a lot of experience in post-secondary hiring, including college presidents.”
However, the selection was only one part of the process. The search committee, working directly with the advisory firm, had to research the different characteristics and skills students, staff, and faculty members are looking for in a leader.
“We are doing two things: sending out a survey, which has gone out to all staff and students. The survey asks them a bunch of questions about how they see the college functioning when looking in the future and what sort of attributes of the president we need,” said Costante.
While Costante and his team review the survey results, the search firm is working to consult with other academic professionals to determine leadership traits and qualities that are suitable for the position.
“[The search firm] will obviously talk to the other members of the board of governors, and senior staff, external members, members of the Student Association, people from Ontario Colleges, and other senior people – perhaps from the Toronto Board of Trade,” said Costante.
Although the college is still on the third step of a nine-step process, Costante says that the process will hopefully be completed in late June.
“Once we finish our consultation process, we will build the profile and begin seeking individuals who may be interested in being president,” said Costante. “We hope to get our top 8 candidates by early April.”
Throughout the process, Leslie Quinlan, vice-president of HR & public safety and security at GBC, emphasizes that diversity and equity are important components when determining the perfect candidate.
“We thought about our selection panel so that the individuals represent a diverse group,” said Quinlan. “The search firm is also trying to remove bias from their recruiting method to bring forward diverse candidates with testing.”
Quinlan says that accessibility and accommodation are important throughout the interview process as well.
After the first round of interviews, two to three candidates are selected. Then, another set of interviews begin which includes presentations on top of questioning.
“We want to make sure we get absolutely the best candidate,” said Costante.
GBC’s next president will go through an onboarding process, but Quinlan and Costante hope that Sado’s successor will continue to carry her legacy.
“We need a true leader, we need somebody who is innovative, collaborative, and has the ability to run an organization of this size and importance,” said Costante. “We are an important downtown college.”
“Anne has a great legacy,” said Quinlan. “We want someone to carry that on in the future, understand the new reality of going remote and dealing with the pandemic.”
