Calvin To Form Search Committee
A search committee charged with the task of finding a replacement for Dr. Gaylen J. Byker, who will retire as president of Calvin College at the end of the 2011-2012 academic year, will be formed by early June.
The search committee will be comprised of up to 16 people, representing the Calvin College Board of Trustees, faculty, staff/administrators, alumni, students and the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA).
From start to finish, the presidential search will be about a 12-month endeavor. Calvin College is a liberal arts educational institution owned and operated by the CRCNA.
The search committee’s goal is to have a presidential recommendation for the Calvin board by their February 2012 meeting. The CRCNA’s Synod 2012 will be asked to ratify the board’s appointment.
Through the end of June, anyone associated with the college, is encouraged to take an extensive survey. The results of that survey will help the search committee to set benchmarks for the presidential position.
Over the course of the next few months, qualified candidates will be identified and the search committee will do research and conduct interviews, when appropriate.
Calvin's Board of Trustees has elected long-time board member Dave Vander Ploeg to serve as chair of the presidential search committee. The Board of Trustees is currently receiving recommendations for committee members from the various constituencies that will be represented. The board will then appoint representatives from each of the identified groups.
The 9th president of Calvin College would likely take office in July 2012.
Dr. Byker, who has served as Calvin's president since 1995, made his formal announcement to the Calvin Board of Trustees on May 20.
Dr. Byker followed Dr. Anthony Diekema (1976-1995) and Dr. William Spoelhof (1951-1976) in the Calvin presidency. They are the only three to serve as Calvin's president in the past 60 years.
"Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college in the Reformed tradition of historic Christianity. Through learning it seeks to be an agent of renewal in the academy, church, and society. It pledges fidelity to Jesus Christ, offering hearts and lives to do God’s work in God’s world," according to the Calvin College vision statement.
"Calvin College professes the authority of scripture and the witness of the ecumenical creeds. It affirms the confessions and respects the rich traditions of Reformed believers worldwide and, in particular, those of the Christian Reformed Church. It aims to enhance the cultural life about it and to address local needs. In all it says and does, it hopes to follow and further the ways of God on earth."
