News

04/23/12 - Gilman School

We are pleased to assist Gilman School with its head of school search. Additional information can be found on our Active Searches list and on Gilman's website.

04/05/12 - SPA Senior Associate, Susan Basalla May, speaks at UPENN

Sue May has been invited to speak to graduate students and faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania on April 5. The title of her talk is “Insider Tips from a Ph.D. Headhunter: How Ph.D.’s Can Find New Careers Outside of Academia.”

04/03/12 - The Future of the Liberal Arts College in America

Shelly Weiss Storbeck will be speaking at the upcoming conference “The Future of the Liberal Arts College in America and its Leadership Role in Education around the World” sponsored by Lafayette College and Swarthmore College with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The conference is set to take place April 9 – 11, 2012. More information can be found at http://sites.lafayette.edu/liberal-arts-conference/.

04/03/12 - SPA Consulting Associate, Ruth Shoemaker Wood, releases new book.

Consulting Associate, Ruth Shoemaker Wood, has released Transforming Campus Culture: Frank Aydelotte’s Honors Experiment at Swarthmore College (University Of Delaware Press). Additional information about Ruth’s book can be found at http://www.amazon.com/Transforming-Campus-Culture-Aydelottes-Experiment/dp/1611493714/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1.

02/17/12 - Interviews by Video: Suggestions for Employers and Candidates

Interviews by Video: Suggestions for Employers and Candidates
By Lesley Boyd

First round interviews for administrative roles have transitioned over the past couple decades from phone interviews to in-person “airport” interviews and, increasingly, some video interviews. While not as satisfying as an in-person introduction and interaction, the increasing quality of video interviews as well as the relative low (or no) cost price point and convenience, particularly for the candidate, make it an attractive substitution. Skype is the most popular provider, but there are many other options such as Google video chat, Facetime, ooVoo, Voxox, and iTV. Your campus IT group likely has a preferred provider.

We recommend interviews by video for the first round particularly when flying candidates to your location is simply not in the search budget. Through trial and error, and a few humorous gaffes (a candidate’s camera stuck on zoom, giving us a close up of only a magnified eye . . .), we have developed a series of recommendations.

For the institution and search committee:

-Your IT office should take the lead on the logistics in terms of set up for the committee. Even if the video interview is taking place an off-site location, it will be significantly more economical to have your IT department set up equipment there rather than rent – at exorbitant rates – equipment that your institution already owns.

-A test connection should be conducted prior to the meeting to work out any hiccups or unfamiliarity on either side. The institution should also test from the location where the interview will take place.

-Be sure the camera is positioned to allow the candidate to see you. Perhaps as committee members ask a question they can approach the camera, or if you have a camera with zoom, it can focus in as s/he speaks.

-Be patient and expect awkward pauses due to technology delays or lack of body language cues.

-Consider the length of the interview; while a two hour in-person interview may seem just about right, it may be excessively long in a video format particularly if the technology is not at its best.

-To prepare for the worst case scenario, have a conference phone available. If the bandwidth or other aspects of the technology simply do not work, you can have the conversation with the candidate by phone.

For candidates:

-Become familiar with the technology and software if you have not already, ideally before you even have an interview scheduled. Have a video chat with your spouse, colleague, friend, or student. The more you use it, the more comfortable you will be during an interview, and you will be better able to focus on the questions and the substance rather than be distracted and, potentially, distraught by the technology.

-Do the test connection from the same location and at approximately the same time as the planned interview, in order to most closely simulate the circumstances and internet speed. Bandwidth, lighting, and sound vary, and a successful test at the office may not provide a successful interview from home.

-Make sure the camera angle is straight forward, rather than looking up, down or sideways at you.

-During the interview, be sure to look at the camera rather than your computer screen. Looking at the camera is your way of making eye contact with the search committee.

-In addition to dressing professionally, as you would for any interview, be mindful of your backdrop and make sure it is tidy and presentable.

As there are frequently initial glitches or adjustments that will be necessary, the key to a successful video interview – for committee and candidate – is to remain positive and flexible.

Ms. Boyd is an Associate Principal with Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates and former Director of the A.T. Kearney Education Practice. She has 18 years of experience in higher education executive search, having worked on over 100 searches at the presidential, vice presidential and dean level.

01/27/12 - SPA Senior Associate, Susan Basalla May, speaks at Michigan State University.

Susan Basalla May will be the keynote speaker at the annual non-academic careers conference sponsored by Michigan State University Career Services on January 28. Her talk is titled, “A Ph.D. Headhunter’s Top Five Insider Tips for Finding a Job Outside Academia.” Basalla May is the co-author of “So What Are You Going to Do With That?: Finding Careers Outside Academia,” published by University of Chicago Press. A revised edition of her book will be released in 2013.

01/16/12 - SPA is pleased to announce two senior-level staff promotions.

SPA is pleased to announce two internal moves - Steve Leo’s to Vice President, and Susan VanGilder to Principal.

Steve Leo has been a founding principal with Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates. A seasoned professional in executive search, Steve has worked at firms both domestically and abroad with over 150 searches completed.

More about Steve Leo can be found at his SPA Team biography: http://storbeckpimentel.com/team/partners/steve-leo/.

Susan VanGilder has extensive executive search experience as an independent search consultant and through her time with other international executive search firms. Susan has also worked extensively with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), including as Manager of the information center and Liaison to the Board on career opportunities for minorities and women.

More about Susan VanGilder can be found at her SPA Team biography: http://storbeckpimentel.com/team/principals/susan-vangilder/.

Congratulations to both Steve and Susan!

01/13/12 - Expert on Access Becomes Michigan State’s Education Dean

SPA placement, Don Heller, on becoming the next Dean of Education at Michigan State. See the full article here.

11/16/11 - Career Corner

Shayne Lightner brings over twenty years experience in senior level recruiting and has been responsible for conducting senior level CEO, COO, CFO, etc. search work for a wide range of organizations and companies globally. He has been a Managing Director with two major international executive search firms and has successfully conducted over 170 senior level searches. Shayne brings to executive search specific experience in the non-profit, higher education, technology, new media, and interactive ventures industries. He has created, built and managed an in-house strategic executive recruiting and research department from scratch and worked with a diverse client base.

Paul Rubin joined Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates as a research analyst in the fall of 2011.
Prior to joining the firm, Paul received his master of science in education, with a concentration in higher education, from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Through this program, he was exposed to subject areas within the field including academic governance, higher education policy, and organizational change. While completing his master degree, Paul also was the graduate assistant in admissions and financial aid at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Previously, Paul was an enrollment management counselor at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. In this position he managed all aspects of the admission process for high school students from Northern New Jersey and New York, underrepresented minority applicants, and select transfer students.

11/08/11 - The Washington Post: Higher-ed leadership Roundtable

Paul Portney, Dean of the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona and a placement of Chuck Bunting and Steve Leo, writes about the crisis of leadership in Higher Education. Read the full story here.

08/24/11 - Preparing Your Resume for Administrative Positions

Preparing Your Resume for Administrative Positions

By Lesley Boyd

When is the last time you examined your resume with a critical eye? Even if not actively pursuing other opportunities, you should ideally update your CV or resume once a year to capture position changes, new responsibilities, or recent accomplishments. More specifically, if you are looking seriously at administrative positions, there are guidelines to upgrading your faculty CV or staff oriented resume that will guide you in substantiating your administrative experiences and accomplishments. While many candidates spend hours writing beautiful (and lengthy!) cover letters, you should first devote this level of attention to building a thorough and clear resume.

As you likely know from search committee work at your own institution, an initial review of applications will include dozens or even hundreds of candidates. This initial evaluation is based heavily upon conclusions and opinions derived from reading your materials, particularly if an executive search firm is not working with the search committee. Your goal in submitting a resume and cover letter is to advance your candidacy to the next stage of the process, typically an in-person interview.

Remember that the resume is a factual document and, as such, all titles, dates of employment, and educational degrees as well as articles, presentations, and other information presented must be accurate and verifiable. Frequently, finalist candidates are surprised during background checks when dates of employment are off by a month or two (a minor issue) or, occasionally, degrees are not verifiable (a major concern!). You likely have a basic CV or resume already with educational degrees, articles, presentations and institutional service, complying with your institution’s format preferences for tenure or other performance reviews. If you are looking towards administrative roles, however, include your relevant experience in the front end of the resume, immediately after your degrees rather than several pages into the document.

It is crucial to realize that the resume, rather than the cover letter, is the first document reviewed by shrewd search committee members and search firm consultants. Because it provides information on the current position and institution, previous roles and educational degrees, we begin with the resume to determine whether the minimum requirements of the position are met, such as an earned doctorate or terminal degree, and/or specific number of years of experience. The CV is the principal document in the portfolio submitted by a candidate, even when there are other materials such as a cover letter, nomination(s), or other addenda.

Secondly, be mindful that search committees are comprised of a wide range of constituents and each of these members—faculty, trustee, staff, student, community representative—will bring a slightly different perspective to the review process. Each member’s background is varied. In some cases, a committee member’s exposure to higher education may be focused on a singular institution. Don’t assume, therefore, that the committee will be familiar with your current (or previous) institution, even if it is prominent or highly ranked. And, if your institution has some degree of “name recognition,” the perceptions of it may be outdated, erroneous, or limited to a specific, well-known program or athletic team.

We recommend that your resume start, therefore, with a brief description of the institution in order to properly orient the reader to the context in which you are operating. The description could include, potentially, Carnegie classification, enrollment, location, and other distinguishing characteristics as appropriate such as external research funding, number of campuses, highlights of recent institutional mission, accomplishments, and/or highly ranked programs. One brief example might be “XYZ institution is an urban research university enrolling more than 30,000 students as part of a state system of higher education. There are 12 colleges, including the state’s only medical school. Annual external research funding exceeds $ZZZ million.”

Similarly, it is paramount to include a full description of the position in which you currently serve. Too frequently, a resume only includes a title and a brief (if any) description of responsibilities, leaving committee members unclear or even puzzled as to the duties and scope of authority. Since even standard position titles such as “Chair,” “Dean,” “Vice President,” can be used for positions that in fact have very different scopes of responsibilities, it is essential to explain further. Otherwise, it will not be clear to the reader that, as chair, you have budget responsibilities on your campus; or, that as Executive Director, you report to the president and are a part of the senior staff; or that as Dean, you are the chief academic officer at your institution. We encourage candidates to include details such as: reporting relationships (whom you report to and the number and/or titles of those reporting directly to you); scale of the area you oversee, such as the size of faculty and/or staff, size of the budget, and other important statistical metrics; and primary position responsibilities and duties. You can think of these specifics as inherent to the position; in other words, the same essential description of the role your predecessor held.

Finally, in addition to the factual description of your current position, it is essential to record your accomplishments while in the role. This listing will likely include items that you were solely responsible for, entries where you were a part of the team, and perhaps even efforts that you oversaw in your leadership role. You can think of these accomplishments as the results of your leadership and your contribution to the position.

The resume is likely only one part of the materials provided for consideration. Does your enhanced CV include the descriptions, details, and accomplishments as suggested? If yes, you are ready to turn to the cover letter, which affords you the opportunity to make a persuasive connection between your experience and the requirements of the position.

07/19/11 - Hurricane Katrina tested new Hockaday Head

NAIS reports how Hockaday's new Head of School was tested by Hurricane Katrina. Read the full article here.

06/01/11 - Bates College

Bates College has launched its presidential search and has hired Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates to assist in the effort. Shelly Storbeck will lead this search.