Report from 2018 TRU Presidential Search Committee Chair

As Chair of the Search committee I am pleased to submit my final report outlining the process that was followed and the activities undertaken as well as the outcome of the successful search.

In 2015 the Board of Governors renewed Dr. Alan Shaver’s Presidential appointment after a favorable performance review. Dr. Shaver was offered a 5-year renewal but he opted to negotiate a 3-year term. It was at this point that the search for a new TRU President really began. There are established procedures that had to be followed. Under section 27(2)(g) of the University Act the Board of Governors of the University has the power to appoint the President of the University.

Under section 27(2)(f) of the University Act the Board has the power, with the approval of the Senate, to establish procedures for the recommendation and selection of candidates for the position of President.

There is a document entitled “Presidential Search Procedures” (see attachments) that sets out the procedures to be followed. This document was approved by both the Senate and the Board of Governors in late 2007.

This “Presidential Search Procedures“ document sets out in five basic sections the process to be followed:

1) Make up and terms of reference of Search Committee. Fifteen members according to a prescribed formula. Committee to be chaired by Board Chair;

2) The requirement to hire an executive search consultant; 3) The requirement for at least national advertising; 4) The requirement to seek input from University community; 5) Confidentiality. The search committee is required to sign an oath of

confidentiality.

In early 2017 The Board Chair began meeting with the University AVP of Human Resources & Planning and Secretariat regularly discussing all aspects of the search including consideration of a transitioning process to be established. Best practices documents for Successful Presidential Searches and Transitioning were received and studied. It was decided that TRU would bring in an expert on the transitioning process, Dr. Michael Atkinson, and this was approved by the Board of Governors.

A Draft time line (see attachments) was established and approved by the Board of Governors. The VP of HR completed a compensation study on Presidential Compensation for University Presidents and presented that to the Board. There was some concern TRU could have an unsuccessful search due to comparatively lower existing compensation than similar sized institutions. It was pointed out that an improved compensation package would have to be approved by the Provincial Government and work began on this, spearheaded by the AVP of HR and Planning. Ultimately an increase was finally approved by the Public-Sector Employers Council, (PSEC). In August of 2017 a contract was finalized with The Geldart Group, an executive search firm that TRU has had a positive experience with in the past. In early October 2017 after meetings were held by Senate, Alumni Association and TRU Foundation, appropriate appointments were made by the various groups according to the prescribed formula, the Search committee was struck. On October 13, 2017 Meeting #1 of the search committee was held in the CN Boardroom. Over an afternoon the search consultant provided a broad overview of the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved as well as the process we would follow. All committee members signed an oath of confidentiality. Committee members were provided an opportunity to provide input on the role and characteristics being sought. An overview of the consultation process was given and committee members recommended groups that should be consulted with. Two full days of stakeholder consultation took place on October 24 -25, 2017. All search committee members were encouraged to attend these meetings. 17 Individual stakeholder sessions were held as well as two open sessions in the CAC Grand Hall that were open to the entire TRU community. At the request of TRUOLFA a separate meeting was held at a later date, November 2, 2017, in Vancouver. During the stakeholder consultations input was received from a broad range of stakeholders. Stakeholder groups were asked to consider what opportunities and challenges TRU and its leaders faced over the next 5 to 10 years and additionally what characteristics the search committee should be looking for in a candidate. Reams of notes were taken as search committee members listened to the stakeholder input. Input from these 20 sessions formed the basis of the 12-page

executive brief that was developed for the position of President and Vice Chancellor. While there were many and varied comments that were heard there were common themes that emerged from the stakeholder consultations. Search committee members were given drafts and based on each committee member’s notes and observations of the consultations the document was extensively edited with input from the entire Search Committee and after two drafts agreement was reached on the executive brief and position profile. This document became the document that was used to help recruit candidates as well as to evaluate candidates against. Attached is a final version of the executive brief as well as a list of Individual stakeholder sessions. It is worth mentioning that based on input heard during the Stakeholder consultations that two issues emerged with respect to the make up of the search committee and these were both dealt with as follows. At the Board of Governors 2017 Planning retreat held on October 26 and 27, 2017 at the Williams Lake Campus these issues were discussed extensively by the Board and a decision was made to approach the Senate to update the Presidential Search Procedures document. It was pointed out in the discussions that the policy predated Open Learning being part of TRU as well as predating the TRC recommendations and TRU’s response to the document and accordingly it would be appropriate to update the Search procedure document. It was also recommended that prior to any future Presidential Searches that the document be reviewed and updated as need be prior to the search commencing. Also, at the same planning retreat in Williams Lake the Board received a presentation from Dr. Michael Atkinson on the current trend by Canadian Universities towards implementing a Presidential transitioning process. At the same planning session, the Board of Governors also had a workshop and provided input on the Presidential position profile. As a result of the input received with respect to the two issues that were raised in early stakeholder meetings one person on the committee was substituted by Senate to ensure compliance with the Presidential search procedures and an additional person was added, being an indigenous representative appointed by the President. Senate approved the change to the Presidential Search process and the Board of Governors then approved the amendment as well. Attached is a

memo to Senate from Board Chair requesting the amendment as well as a copy of the revised policy. Also attached is a list of final Search Committee members. After the Stakeholder meetings were held and the executive brief and position profile documents created and an advertising program was approved and commenced at the end of October 2017. Advertising was done globally specifically targeting Canada, USA, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. Advertisements were placed in print and on the web. Attached is a list of the advertising that was placed and search statistics. It should be noted that the position was also posted with the Canada Job Bank to ensure we could demonstrate we had advertised in Canada in case we had a desired candidate from outside Canada. In addition to the advertising the executive recruitment consultant also contacted prospective potential candidates it was aware of through its extensive network. By early January 2018 the consultant had received and screened 41 applicants, 35 of which were placed on an “A” list with the remainder on a “B” list. A password protected, encrypted website was created and administered by the search consultant and all the CVs were placed on this website and all committee members could access the applicant’s CVs. On January 15, 2018 meeting #2 of the search committee was held with a mandate to create a “medium list” of 5-8 candidates to be interviewed. After considering all the applicants a medium list of 8 candidates was agreed upon by the search committee. Arrangements were made to bring in the 8 candidates to a hotel at the Vancouver Airport to be interviewed over 2 days, January 30 and 31, 2018. Great care was made to maintain confidentiality of the candidates as most were currently employed and the current employers may not have known that the candidates were seeking alternative employment. Each Candidate was interviewed for 2 hours and each candidate was asked the same questions by the search consultant. At the end of the Interview each candidate had the opportunity to ask the committee questions. About ½ of the search committee attended at YVR for the interviews and the other ½ were connected via video conferencing. The search consultant had support staff recording the interviews and the search committee made their own notes. Subsequently, a report of each interview was prepared by the search consultant and posted on the encrypted website for search committee members to access.

On February 7, 2018 Meeting #3 of the search committee was held at the TRU Boardroom with a mandate to create a shortlist of 3 candidates to invite in confidence to Kamloops to further meet with the search committee and the Board of Governors. A shortlist of 3 candidates was achieved. The search consultant began preparing probing questions that were to be asked to each candidate by individual search committee members. The “Draft“ questions were circulated in advance to committee members and members input was invited and the questions were edited and modified based on committee input. The search consultant began making arrangements to confidentially bring the final 3 shortlisted candidates and spouses into Kamloops and each candidate was interviewed over 2 days each. These interviews took place on, March 1&2, March 5&6, March 7&8, 2018. The interviews included meeting with the Board Chair for breakfast, making a presentation and being interviewed by the search committee, having a working lunch with search committee and then being interviewed by individual groups of the search committee including the Alumni/TRU foundation representative, faculty representatives, staff, senior administrators, indigenous representative, and student representative. On the first evening of each set of Interviews a reception and dinner was held at a private residence for the candidate and spouse and the Board of Governors. On the second day the candidates and spouses had breakfast with the Board Chair and Vice Chair and then a tour of Kamloops and the campus took place. More meetings with committee members took place and finally lunch with the Board Chair before departing Kamloops. The same itinerary was repeated for each of the three shortlisted candidates. On March 13, 2018 the search committee met a final time and each candidate was discussed at length. At the end of the meeting a vote by secret ballot was held and one candidate received unanimous support to be recommended to the Board of Governors. The search consultant then undertook an extensive 360 background check over a two-week period and spoke with about 35 referees who knew or worked with the candidate. The final report on the 360 background check confirmed that the recommended candidate had a stellar reputation and was a person of integrity and outstanding character.

On March 23, 2018 during a regular board meeting the Board of Governors voted unanimously to support the candidate recommended by the search committee. Immediately following the meeting, the Board chair the university Secretary and General Counsel as well as the VP HR prepared an offer based on PSEC pre-approval and commenced negotiations with the chosen candidate. A contract was approved by PSEC and was executed by the Board Chair and the successful candidate, Dr. Brett Fairbairn. I would like to thank the Presidential Search Committee for their commitment and dedication to this process which lead to a successful conclusion of this very important search. I would also like to acknowledge the support of staff and senior Administration who provided valuable support through out the process. Thanks to all the students, staff and faculty and other stakeholders who participated in all the Stakeholder sessions. Respectfully submitted, Jim Thomson, Presidential Search Committee Chair