Jun 4, 2015 3 min read

Three members of the California University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees will be part of the search committee for a new president to lead the institution of higher learning, and chairman of the committee will be attorney James T. Davis of Uniontown.

Davis, a member of Cal U.’s Class of 1973, will be joined on the search committee by Michele M. Mandell of Upper St. Clair, former executive at Talbots Inc., Cal U. Class of 1969, and Thomas J. Uram of Eighty Four, former chairman of the Washington County Republican Committee.

Larry Maggi, Washington County commissioner and chairman of university’s council of trustees, said Thursday, “We were notified by the board of governors and the chancellor to initiate the process to get a search committee together and that entails assigning council of trustees to it, assigning a chairman and then there are stakeholders. We’re in the process of putting that committee together.”

Also chosen by the faculty union was Barbara L. Hess, a professor in the department of math, computer science and information systems and, selected by the faculty at-large, was Craig Smith, an associate professor from the department of history and political science.

In addition to the trustees and faculty members, the search committee will include one executive of Cal U.; two noninstructional employees of the university; one student and one alumna or alumnus. There also can be up to three additional members of the committee, and Maggi said that as chairman of the council of trustees, he will be an ex-officio member of the search committee.

The makeup of the search committee must be approved by the Council of Trustees and the Board of Governors and the chancellor and Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees 14 state schools.

“They really can’t get started until they have their full search committee in place,” said Christine Kindl, director of the office of communications and public relations at Cal U.

The chancellor of the state’s System of Higher Education will assign a president from another university and a chancellor’s office assistant as non-voting advisers. The search committee will also choose a search consultant from a list of about 10 who been qualified in advance to identify candidates and recruit possible candidates.

Kenn Marshall, spokesman for the State System of Higher Education, said between four and six candidates could be invited for campus visits, and from that group, two names would be submitted to the board of governors.

“It will probably take four to six months, as a general time frame, to submit names to the board. This is not hard and fast, but from history, that’s generally how long it takes,” Marshall said.

Cheney University in eastern Pennsylvania is also without a permanent president, but Marshall said Cheney won’t be starting its search for some time.

Geraldine M. Jones has been serving as interim president of Cal U. since the state system fired Dr. Angelo Armenti Jr. in May 2012.

She announced via news release April 30 that the university will not fill five assistant coaching positions when contracts expire at the end of this month. Sports affected include assistant coaches of women’s soccer, men’s soccer, baseball, football and softball. Another assistant coaching position in volleyball will remain unfilled when that contract expires June 30, 2016.

“California University’s leadership team has been working hard to bring our programs, services and payroll into alignment with both the university’s needs and the resources available,” Jones said.