SUNY-ESF is entering the last phase of its presidential search as the final candidates begin visiting campus this week.

The presidential search committee for the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry announced that it had selected five final candidates last Wednesday.

The presidential search committee includes a student representative, faculty and members of the ESF Board of Trustees, according to ESF’s website. The new president is expected to be announced in December.

The five candidates are: Mary Pearl of Macaulay Honors College; Robert Prezant of Montclair State University; Quentin Wheeler of Arizona State University; Aldemaro Romero of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; and James Coleman of Virginia Commonwealth University, according to the website.

The candidates will visit for two days and meet with several of the college’s constituency groups in open forums, tour the campus and meet with members of the city’s community, said Vita DeMarchi, chairwoman of the ESF Board of Trustees and co-chair of the presidential search committee.

ESF President Cornelius Murphy announced in December he would step down within a year. DeMarchi said the committee hopes to honor Murphy’s legacy in its search for a new president by looking for three main qualities in its candidates: a passion for sustaining the college’s mission, providing a vision for ESF in the present and future and further improving the college’s national ranking. She said the committee developed its focus by surveying its constituencies early on in the search process.

“We want our candidates to bring fundraising and inspiration to the college,” DeMarchi said. “We also want to kick the college into the next realm of being known and to become a future leadership in the environmental arena.”

DeMarchi said the finalists all possess qualities of leadership, charisma, impressive credentials and a passion to involve ESF in their mission to make a difference in the world.

Romero, who will be visiting the ESF campus on Oct. 15 and 16, said he sees the presidential position as a “unique opportunity” to use his experience in environmental science, which ranges from writing a textbook in the subject to also heading several environmental science departments at various institutions.

He said he sees “tremendous potential” in the school, especially with the dedication that the students, faculty and staff put into the institution. He said the college could improve with more updated technology in classrooms, private funding and greater national recognition.

“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity,” Romero said. “I hope that if I’m selected I can give them more resources to be more proud of ESF — more proud of it than they already are.”

Prezant, one of the finalists, said he feels that it is a “particularly fortuitous moment” for a new president to join ESF as Syracuse University welcomes a new chancellor. Solutions to issues of climate change, deforestation and other global issues require research by faculty and students at ESF, often in partnership with other academic institutions, he said in an email.

“I buy into the mission of SUNY-ESF as it seeks to advance the future health and sustainable balance of our environment, both natural and designed,” Prezant said.

The rest of the candidates could not be reached for comment.

On the presidential search website, students have the option to provide input on what they would like to see in the next president. The committee created this option because it wanted to get as much input from students at all stages of the search, said Valerie Luzadis, ESF’s chair of the environmental studies department and a member of the search committee.

In the coming weeks, the committee will interview the candidates, produce a list of strengths and weaknesses for each candidate and then narrow them down to three, Luzadis said. The three finalists will then be recommended to the ESF Board of Trustees, who will forward the names of the candidates to the SUNY chancellor.  Both the chancellor and the ESF Board of Trustees will announce the final selection.

Published on September 30, 2013 at 11:35 pm

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu