Board of Trustees announces presidential search committee

Chriss Johns, chair of Aurora University's Board of Trustees, and John Ammons, trustee and chair of the Presidential Search Committee, today announced the members of the committee charged with carrying out the search for the university's next president.

Last month, President Rebecca L. Sherrick, PhD, announced that she will conclude her tenure as AU’s 13th president at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year after 22 years of service.

Read their letter to the AU Community here:

26 September 2022

Presidential Search Update #1

Dear Members of the Aurora University Community,

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Presidential Search Committee and its members. We intend to charge the Search Committee with conducting an open, inclusive, and transparent process that extensively consults with the university community and regularly communicates its progress. We solicited nominations for the Search Committee and the Board of Trustees appointed Trustee John Ammons as Search Committee Chair.

The Presidential Search Committee members are:
John Ammons '83 – Trustee, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee
Hilary Brennan '83 – Trustee
Doug Craft '75 – Trustee
Chad DeKing '83 – Trustee
Hilary Rantisi '93 – Trustee
Ann Sheets '77 (GWC) – Trustee
Dr. Matt Kneller – Professor of Communication, Director of General Education
Dr. Chetna Patel – Professor of Chemistry, Smith Distinguished Chair in Science and Mathematics, Chair of Physical Sciences
Dr. Ed Howerton – Associate Professor of Education and Associate Dean of the College of Education and Social Work
Kara Fenne – Associate Professor of Nursing and Chair of Undergraduate Nursing
Tory Nair – Director of Career Services
Kallie Sakamoto – Student, Senior, Criminal Justice Major, Women's Golf Team Member

Presidential Search Committee Support:
Chriss Johns – Board Chair, ex-officio
Becca Flaminio – Executive Support

With support from our retained search consultants, WittKieffer, we anticipate recruiting a compelling and diverse pool of candidates whose leadership, experience, and acumen can position Aurora University for a promising future.

We have created a presidential search website that will provide periodic updates on the search process: aurora.edu/presidential-search.

In order to gain broad feedback from the Aurora University community on the presidential search, we will be scheduling a number of listening sessions in early October. We encourage your attendance so that the committee and the search firm can hear your voices. In addition, we will be launching a survey and encourage you to fill it out. Survey feedback will be kept confidential. Here is a link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K5LQ29X.

We welcome your suggestions and nominations, which can be directed to: AuroraUniversityPresident@wittkieffer.com.

The Search Committee will commence its work in early October. As the search progresses, we will keep you informed about the search process through regular communication and updates to the presidential search website.

Thank you for your support of this process as we identify Aurora University's next president.

Sincerely,

Chriss Johns and John Ammons