Presidential Search

To enable the school’s success and thriving, the next President will actively seek to strengthen the school’s financial position, now and into the future. This will likely include enhancing our advancement efforts, both by bolstering existing fundraising efforts and by developing new alternative revenue streams to support the school. This will also include strong financial and budgetary management.

At a time when the need for well-trained progressive religious leaders is great, when the nature of religious leadership is changing, and when rising costs are leading fewer people to pursue higher education, a core priority for the next President will be to bolster student enrollment and retention. This will likely include championing strategic and innovative efforts to recruit more students, advancing new programs that provide opportunities for people of different experiences and interests to study at Starr King, and ensuring financial and other resources are available to both attract and retain students.

One of the President’s priorities will be to find ways of advancing the school’s counter-oppressive mission, values, and pedagogy to achieve our vision of becoming the hub for counter-oppressive theological education. This will likely include finding creative, innovative ways to further our mission and remain on the cutting edge of theological education in a context of changing dynamics within theological education and possible societal opposition to our mission. This will also likely include bolstering the school’s reputation and visibility as an institution of academic excellence and one of the best schools to prepare people for progressive religious leadership.

Over the past decade, the school has strengthened and formalized its operations as a small, nonprofit theological school. However, to meet the school’s current needs and adapt to the changing environment in which we live, it will be essential for the next President to continue to enhance the operations and administration of Starr King. This will likely include clarifying roles and responsibilities within the school, addressing silos and streamlining processes, helping the school meet shifting regulatory requirements, leading strategic operational change in alignment with our counter-oppressive values, and achieving our ATS-identified priorities.

As we seek to increase enrollment and become the hub for counter-oppressive theological education, a core priority of the next President will be to strengthen and expand strategic partnerships and relationships to provide greater support and opportunities for Starr King and its students. This will include identifying and fostering relationships with institutions, congregations, and communities that align with our mission and values and that can help the school achieve its goals.

Starr King has long had a vibrant and engaged community, grounded in a sense of joy, renewal, and possibility. However, Starr King has operated almost entirely virtually for the past five years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – making it more difficult to maintain that same vibrancy experienced in in-person settings. Moreover, the school has historically gone through cycles of profound change and may face a need for more change in response the evolving social and political environment. Approaching such moments of change requires a high level of communication, collaboration, and trust across the life of the school. Therefore, a core priority for the next President will be to model collaboration and effective communication, foster trust across constituency groups, and enhance a common sense of community within the school. This will include building strong relationships of trust with each constituent group, guiding the school in how to best work together to advance our vision and respond to societal changes, cultivating a strong culture within virtual settings, and exploring opportunities for the community to gather and learn in-person and/or in hybrid settings.

Starr King holds a unique position in theological education as one of only two Unitarian Universalist seminaries in North America. As a result, Starr King plays a pivotal role in preserving and advancing Unitarian Universalism. At the same time, Starr King welcomes and prepares students from all faith traditions for progressive religious leadership in society – a long-standing, lived commitment to the Unitarian Universalist value of pluralism. One of the priorities of the next President will be to reaffirm and strengthen Starr King’s dual identity as a Unitarian Universalist and multi-religious seminary.