Dear Starr King Community,
I would like to thank all of the students, faculty, staff, graduates, donors, board members and friends of the school who participated in our listening sessions last week or submitted input via email or our survey as part of Starr King’s presidential search process. The dynamic conversations and many ideas shared have been energizing to all of us on the search committee. In the coming weeks, we will analyze all the input we received from across the Starr King community and use this input to draft the core search materials we will be utilizing throughout the remainder of the search process. We will share more updates as those materials are finalized.
During last week’s listening sessions, we also heard many important questions raised about the search process. I want to make sure everyone has a chance to hear our responses to those questions.
The following are the questions we heard last week with my responses, written interview-style:
The Search Committee was named in early November. We held listening sessions with groups from across Starr King communities the week of November 18. From this input on the priorities, challenges, and key attributes of a new president, we are creating an application packet that will be available January 6. This is the date when we will formally launch the search. We will be posting ads in various higher education and liberal religious publications. Search Committee members will also be reaching out to identify candidates through January and most of February. From there, the search committee will have in-person interviews with the semi-finalists in mid-March. Our final candidates will be given to the Board in late March. The Board will conduct the final round of interviews and make the final selection in April, with an announcement in May. Our goal is for the new president to be ready to transition into the role in June. You can see our full timeline for reference here.
There are several key differences between the two searches. The first difference is that we are not using a search firm this time. One of challenges during the last search was finding a search firm that understood Starr King’s mission and values. In the end, it took significant time to attempt to bring a search firm up to speed on Starr King, which slowed down the process and affected the candidate pool. In this search, we are able to save considerable time at the front end of the process by not using a search firm. The challenge in not using a search firm, however, is that it means more work for the Search Committee, as they will be the ones who will be reaching out to identify candidates. We are fortunate to have support from Katie Garcia, who has been a consultant to Starr King for the past 10 years and has excellent facilitation and writing skills. She is creating the materials for the search packet, which would normally be done by a search firm.
Another key difference is we are collecting input from the Starr King community at the beginning of the search process, rather than at the end. We wanted the community’s input to fundamentally shape how we approach the search process. This is why we had our listening sessions with students, faculty, staff, donors, and graduates during the week of November 18, as well as soliciting survey input from those who were not able to attend our listening sessions and input shared via email. By the end of the process, the committee will choose 3-4 finalists to provide to the Board of Trustees in mid-March/early April, and the Board will pick the finalist. There will not be a public announcement of the candidates, nor a solicitation of feedback on those candidates, in order to protect confidentiality and the privacy of those finalist candidates.
The timeline is aggressive, especially at the beginning of the process. However, once the job is posted on January 6, we have a fairly typical timeline planned for such searches. The six weeks for outreach and applications to be submitted is standard for a presidential search.
We saved time at the beginning of the process by not working with a search firm. However, the main downside of our aggressive timeline has to do with the search committee itself. In an ideal world, the committee would have time to meet in person and form the kind of relationships you would want the committee to have going into this process. We did not have that time to build those relationships, as the listening sessions were being planned and scheduled before the committee had a chance to meet. Search committee members stepped onto a moving train. I am in awe of how well they have dealt with this. It is truly a testament to this very diverse and impressive team.
We have a fantastic search committee assembled, with members bringing in a variety of different perspectives into this work. The search committee includes students, faculty members, staff, board members, graduates, and community leaders. Our members include Rev. Dianne Daniels, Richael Faithful, Kellie Kinsman, Dr. Kat Liu, Dr. Som Pourfarzaneh, Rev. Dr. Sheri Prud’homme, and Rev. Dr. Chris Schelin. You can learn more about each of our committee members here.
Yes! We are very fortunate to have Larry Ladd as a consultant to the Committee. He not only does executive searches as a vocation, but he is a third generation Unitarian Universalist who has been a long-time friend to Starr King. He has provided an extensive number of examples various needed materials, as well as advised on timelines and best practices. I have also spoken with the chairs of the last Starr King presidential search and the chair of the last Meadville presidential search, who both provide valuable insights.
If you mean the headwinds from the cultural polarization within the US today, and the potential for pushback on Starr King values in the months and years to come, now may be the best time for such a search. The new president will relish working with an institution like Starr King – a historically very scrappy school that punches above its weight as it lives its values. Starr King creates spiritual leaders, deep thinkers, strong ministers, and passionate social justice advocates. This is an opportunity for a new president to continue shaping the future of these emerging leaders and the communities they serve – at a time when we will likely need progressive religious leaders the most.
While an interim is typical for a congregational search, it is not necessarily typical for a theological school, which is what Starr King is. Moreover, the nature of a search process is inherently different between a congregation and a higher education institution.
That being said, the board did consider the possibility of an interim. As part of that discernment, we met with a person who functions as an interim president for higher education institutions. She noted that, as a theological school, the likely consequence of an interim president at Starr King would be a loss of our momentum toward our strategic goals. This momentum is particularly important given how quickly things are changing in the world today, and the need for strong leadership in place that is empowered to make long-term decisions about the future of the school. She recommended that we go directly to the search for the next president. As we then reflected on our goals and current momentum, we ultimately agreed with her recommendation.
No – we are committed to finding the candidates for this role. Once the job is posted and the information packet is available, we have a normal interval to select final candidates. Moreover, we would not forward candidates to the Board that don’t meet our criteria.
Our criteria for assessing candidates is what we are working through now. The input from the various groups has been very rich, and it is this input that will in many ways inform our criteria. It’s interesting – even though the input has been a little like the story of the group of blind individuals describing an elephant based on what part of its body they were touching, the input has been remarkably consistent from these different perspectives.
We swim in those same waters. It is not easy to be a small school with a small endowment. However, Starr King has always done more with less. Moreover, we expect the tough social and political challenges right now to pay a dividend in more interest in what Starr King offers.
We are grateful for the support of our students, faculty, and donors who make this school possible.
If you have other questions about our search process, please email us at SearchCommittee@sksm.edu.
Thank you again for your continued support in this work.
Sincerely,
Linda Laskowski
Chair, Starr King Presidential Search Committee
Dear Starr King Community,
I am excited to share with you an update about the next chapter at Starr King School for the Ministry.
In August and September, the Board of Trustees gathered input from throughout the Starr King community to help inform the building blocks of presidential search process, specifically around the charge to the search committee, the composition of the search committee, and other important aspects of the process. Over the past several weeks, we have analyzed that input and have made several decisions about the search.
The Board has formally established a search committee to lead the work of finding the next president of Starr King. As I shared in September, we wanted to ensure that the search committee represented a variety of perspectives from across the life of the school and the wider world. Today, I am pleased to share that our search committee does exactly that – bringing together perspectives from our student body, our faculty, our staff, the wider UU and multi-religious communities, and other higher education institutions.
The search committee is currently composed of the following members:
• Linda Laskowski (Chair)
• Rev. Dianne Daniels
• Richael Faithful
• Rev. Dr. Matta Ghaly
• Kellie Kinsman
• Dr. Kat Liu
• Rev. Dr. Sheri Prud’homme
• Rev. Dr. Chris Schelin
In the coming weeks, the search committee will begin meeting regularly to advance the work of the search process.
Beyond composing the committee, we have also made decisions about the search process itself. In addition to the input we received from our community, we have also met with outside leaders and experts in higher education to understand best practices and methods of structuring effective search processes. Based all these conversations, we have developed a process and a tentative timeline for our search.
It was vitally important to all of us on the Board that the search committee’s work be informed by the collective wisdom of the Starr King community. Therefore, the first step in the search process will be a series of listening sessions with various parts of the Starr King community. These listening sessions are opportunities for members of this community to share their hopes, dreams, concerns, and ideas about the next president of our beloved school. Specifically, we want to hear from our community about what attributes and experiences are most important for the next president of Starr King to have, as well as what the next president should prioritize as they step into this role. This will be the final round of input from the Starr King community, and it will fundamentally shape the search materials, strategy, and focus of the search committee. Stay tuned for more information in the next few days about these listening sessions.
Following the listening sessions, the search committee will create the materials necessary to formally launch the search in the first week of January 2025. The committee will reach out to candidates through most of January and February, with the intent of interviewing semi-finalists in March. The search committee will then present finalist candidates to the Board. The Board will conduct interviews with finalist candidates and then select the best candidate for the role. Our current president and ex-officio Board member, Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, will not participate in those finalist interviews nor the decision-making process that will follow. Candidates’ identities will remain confidential throughout the process, and the board will make a final decision without public feedback on finalist candidates in order to protect confidentiality. You can view the current timeline of the search process here.
This search process aligns with best practices in theological education. It benefits from high-level visioning and input from across the life of the school. It is rooted in our mission and vision. For all of these reasons, we believe that this process will best enable us to find the best possible candidate for the next president of Starr King.
The search committee will be providing regular updates about their progress as they begin this process. The Board will also continue to communicate with you throughout this academic year as news of the school and search unfold in this time of a changing landscape in religion and higher education.
We know there will be many questions about this search process. We invite you to share those questions either during the upcoming listening sessions or via email to SearchCommittee@sksm.edu. We will share more updates and answer questions about the process during our upcoming board meeting on November 13th.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank everyone again for your patience and support throughout the past several months of discernment. Because of that support and early input, we are confident that we have created the right building blocks to help the search committee lead and execute the right process to find the next president of Starr King.
Sincerely,
Rev. Alison Miller
Chair, Starr King Board of Trustees
Dear Starr King Community,
I want to take a moment to thank everyone who provided input on the charge to the search committee and on the composition of the search committee over the past few weeks. We were particularly heartened and inspired by the open conversation on the charge to the search committee during our full board meeting on September 18. And we are appreciative of the conversations we’ve had with different representatives and constituent groups, all which are also informing us in how to proceed.
As we shared earlier this month, we are committed to creating the best possible search process to select the next president of Starr King. We are taking this time to create a process that is grounded in our vision, benefits from the collective wisdom of our community, and aligns with higher education best practices.
With that in mind, we have already begun to make decisions on the search process, guided in large part by the input we have received. Over the coming weeks, the Board will continue to analyze the input we have received and make final decisions on the charge to and composition of the search committee. Those who were able to attend our full Board meeting already had an opportunity to see and collaborate on an early draft of that charge. We will be finalizing the charge to the search committee based on the additional input we received via email.
When it comes to the composition of the search committee, we believe that it is critically important that the search committee brings different perspectives from across the life of the school into the process. This idea has been – and continues to be – central in our discernment on the composition of the search committee. The discussions we’ve had with representatives from different constituent groups across the school have already helped us think about ways to bring those different perspectives into the committee. This initial input also helped us begin to identify some of the qualities that are important to have represented on the search committee in some way, such as a deep understanding of the state of theological education and experience in higher education search processes. At the same time, we also recognize that the search committee will need to be composed in such a way that it is nimble enough to do its work effectively within the timeframe outlined in the charge. These considerations, along with an analysis of all the input we have received, will guide us in our decision-making.
We will be sharing updates as those decisions are made. Additionally, beyond the charge to and composition of the search committee, there are other building blocks to the search process that will also need to be created. As we begin to turn our attention to those other building blocks, we will also be sharing updates on our next steps and additional opportunities for input.
I want to conclude this update the same way I began – with gratitude to all of you for your continued patience, support, and collaboration as we continue to build out our presidential search process. We look forward to continuing this work with you in the weeks and months ahead.
Sincerely,
Rev. Alison Miller
Chair, Starr King Board of Trustees
Dear Starr King Community,
As the summer has come to a close and we step full into a new academic year, I wanted to share an update on the progress the Board of Trustees has made in developing the search process for the next president of Starr King.
We recognize the significance of the moment before us. Like all transitions, this is a time of both opportunity and uncertainty. However, we recognize that it is not just Starr King in transition; all of theological education – perhaps all of academia – is also in transition right now. As a Board, we want to make sure that we are thoughtful in how we navigate this transition to move us toward the future we all seek.
That is why the Board spent the summer thinking through how we can best create a search process that is grounded in our vision, benefits from the collective wisdom of our community, and aligns with higher education best practices. A big part of how we spent the summer was having conversations with representatives of different parts of the Starr King community, as well as outside leaders and higher education experts, to help us think through the building blocks required to do a presidential search well.
One question we heard from members of our community over the summer is why we made the decision to search for the next president rather than an interim president. Fundamentally, our decision was based on the strength of our school and the need to continue to build on the momentum we have generated over the past few years. We are in the middle of a strategic plan, our Five Year Roadmap. Our Five Year Roadmap – created with the input of our students, faculty, staff, and Board – that has made great gains for the school over the past two years. It is through our strategic Roadmap work that we have begun meaningful initiatives to bring our ECO model into new spaces, develop new platforms for thought leadership, strengthen our internal systems, foster new partnerships, and deepen relationships within our community. We want to keep this momentum going and see this strategic plan through to the end. And a long-term president would be far better equipped than a one-year interim to lead us through the completion of our strategic plan and the generation of a new vision. We need someone ready to pick up the baton, keep our school moving forward in abundance, and deepen the relationships that will bear fruit long into the future. In short, Starr King is ready for the next president who can guide the school through transformation every day and every year to create the next chapter of Starr King.
With this task in mind, the Board has been working to develop the various pieces of our search process. We also have been thinking through ways to bring in the input – the hopes, dreams, concerns, and ideas – of our community as we develop the building blocks of this process.
One building block of the search process is the composition of the search committee. It is critically important to us that our search committee brings different perspectives from across the life of the school into the search process. Therefore, we are intentionally taking the time to figure out the right composition of this committee. I, alongside my fellow Board officers, have been meeting with representatives from constituent groups within the school to begin to get input into the composition of the search committee. We will continue this work in the coming weeks. Additionally, the full board will also meet in executive session to reflect on this input and think through the composition of the search committee. We will be meeting executive session to protect confidentiality in case any possible candidates for the committee are discussed. We will share an update on our discernment about the composition of the search committee by the next full board meeting on September 18.
Another important building block of this search process will be to develop the charge for the search committee. The charge to the search committee is designed to outline the expectations, responsibilities, and strategic focus of the committee as it leads the search process. This charge is the north star – a guiding light – for the committee through every stage of the search process.
As we develop this building block of the search process, we want to hear from you. What are those elements that important to include in the charge for the search committee? We invite you to share your thoughts on the focus and important elements of the charge between now and September 22. We will also designate time for an open discussion on the charge of the search committee during the September 18 board meeting. You can share your thoughts on the charge to the search committee via email at future@sksm.edu.
We are still in formation stages of the presidential search process. There are many more questions that need to be asked and thoughtfully answered. We are committed to taking the time to answer those questions fully and to finding more opportunities for input from our community as we build this process. Stay tuned for more updates on those additional opportunities for input into building blocks of the search process.
We are committed to creating the best process to select the next president of Starr King. On behalf of the Board, I thank you for your patience and support in this first stage of our work. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with all of you as we create and begin this search process.
Sincerely,
Rev. Alison Miller
Chair, Starr King Board of Trustees
I am Rev. Alison Miller, and I am honored to serve as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Starr King School for the Ministry.
As many of you know, earlier this month our president, Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, shared that this next year will be her last year at Starr King. While we are saddened by her upcoming departure, the overwhelming feeling of everyone on the board has been immense gratitude for Rosemary’s decade of extraordinary leadership.
Of course, Rosemary’s departure next year also means that Starr King is about to embark on an important transition in the leadership of the school. Among other things, transitions provide key moments of reflection – of where we have been, where we are now, and where we seek to go next. As a board, we have spent the past several weeks reflecting on Starr King’s vision and the strength of our school.
As a result of that reflection, I am pleased to share that the Board of Trustees has unanimously affirmed that we are prepared to go into search for the next president of Starr King.
That we are ready for this search is a testament to the exemplary work and commitment of our staff and faculty, and of the dedication of our students.
This is an exciting moment at Starr King. However, before we begin this search, there is still more work we on the board need to do first. We still need to figure out the right questions to ask to help us determine our best way forward in this search. In the coming weeks and months, we will share regular updates about our next steps as we begin this important work.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to email future@sksm.edu.
We are entering a pivotal moment in the life of the school. Transitions are a time of both uncertainty and possibility. We have much work ahead of us in the next year. And I am confident that together we can embrace this moment of change, advance Starr King’s vision, and build upon the strength of this school and our community as we write this next chapter of Starr King.
In just a few weeks, we will mark the ten year anniversary of my arrival as President of Starr King School for the Ministry. As I think back on the past ten years, I am filled with pride at all that Starr King has accomplished. We have overcome many challenges together, including a global pandemic that changed every part of our day to day lives. We have adapted to broader shifts within our country and within theological education, all while remaining true to our mission and our values.
We birthed new beginnings for our school. Found new ways to equip Unitarian Universalist and multi-religious students to become the
progressive religious leaders that our world needs. And we’ve moved toward the school’s roadmap goal to become the hub for counter-oppressive theological education by 2027.
But what brings me the most joy and pride are the nearly two hundred students who have graduated from Starr King and taken up counter-oppressive ministries in a variety of settings across the country and around the world. It’s been and continues to be an honor and a privilege to serve this school as president.
With a mix of gratitude, gladness, and some grief, I want to share with you my decision to bring my term as president to a close.
This next year will be my last year of service here at Starr King. My last day will be June 30, 2025. Making this choice was hard as I so love this school. And there’s so much exciting work ahead for Starr King. However, I made the decision for two reasons. The first reason is personal. The quote from Ecclesiastes is especially apt here.
“To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.”
Being a part of the important work of advancing progressive theological education has fulfilled one of my life’s dreams, but I have other things I’d like to accomplish. More books to write. More knowledge to gain. More advocacy to do. Most of all, my family and I would like to go back home.
My husband, Bob, and our two sons followed me here to California when I took on this role. As a family, we are ready to return to the East Coast. It is my new season and time for me to pursue all these dreams at a new stage in my life.
The second reason is the recognition that in the life of our school and our movement, it is time to pass the baton. There are enormous changes ahead for our country and our world. The ground of theological education is shifting under our feet. And we are at a critical turning point within Unitarian Universalism. We are entering a new season too. There will be both new challenges and new opportunities before us. And one of these opportunities is chance to find a fresh vision and a new perspective and let our school respond to these broader changes as Starr King moves into its next great chapter.
In all of this, I want to be clear. My commitment, my faith, my love for Starr King has never wavered and it never will. We are doing great things right now, and I am heartened by the knowledge the best is yet to come.
I know that this news will raise questions about what the transition will look like and what this next chapter will be for Starr King. Our board of trustees already is in discernment about these next steps. We will share regular updates as these decisions are made. As well as updates on the work we are doing in this next year to advance the goals of our school. So please stay tuned for those updates.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at future@sksm.edu.
I’m looking forward to this coming year with all of you. This chance to complete my work, the chance to advance us toward our goal of coming the hub of counter-oppressive theological education. This chance to celebrate all we have accomplished, to say goodbye, and to pass the baton.
Let me close with words of gratitude. Thank you for this opportunity to serve the school that I love. And in so doing, serve the faith that I love.
Let us build on all we have achieved together and begin to chart the next great chapter of Starr King.
