A few weeks ago, three prospective candidates for the president position toured the campus at BSM. Sending in candidates for tour signals that the Presidential Search Committee is entering the final stages of the hiring process. 

The Presidential Search Committee has been meeting with candidates in partnership with an outside agency called Partners in Mission. “They identified three external candidates that they wanted to bring into the community. On March 15, 16, 17, they brought those candidates to campus,” Interim President Meghan DesLauriers said. 

The idea behind the campus tours was two-fold. Firstly, the search committee wanted to learn more about the three candidates and determine if they would be a good fit for the community. “The idea was for [the candidates] to meet with board members, department chairs, the leadership team, some parents, and other individuals like Mr. J. and Mary Fran O’Keefe, who have long standing relationship with the school to get feedback and information,” DesLauriers said.  

Additionally, the board was interested in hearing about the candidates’ experience at BSM. “It was for the candidates to learn more about the school, and for the school to learn more about the candidates,” DesLauriers said. 

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After the tours, the search committee sent surveys to anyone involved in the tour to hear about their impressions of the candidates. “Each person who participated in that process got a survey at the end of the day and could fill in information about their experience and their encounter with that candidate. And then the search committee…took that information and is now moving forward with their process,” DesLauriers said. 

Senior Samantha Steensland is an admissions intern who was selected to lead one of the presidential candidates on tour. “It was about an hour-long tour…where I [told] them about our BSM community and the different spaces around our community…they asked questions not only about the spaces but about our lives as Red Knights and what it truly was like to be a student here. It was cool to have a perspective on the future of our school,” Steensland said. 

After these campus tours, there are multiple steps before a final president is chosen. “If they’ve narrowed down a candidate, they would need full board approval of that candidate…then that candidate would have to meet with the archdiocese and the archdiocese would also have to approve it. And then the candidate would have to agree; they would have to accept the offer,” DesLauriers said.

Until the search committee confirms their final choice, Interim president DesLauriers will remain in her position. She is preparing a transition plan to help the new president adjust to his or her position. “I’m ready to jump in and help this person transition. We’re putting together a robust transition plan, and we’ll have a transition team helping with that so this person is really prepared as soon as they start. There will definitely be overlap I think between me and whoever that person is so we can have a nice, smooth transition,” DesLauriers said.