The search committee for Keene State College’s next president hopes to define the experience and attributes it’s looking for in a leader over the next month, its chair said Wednesday.

After the job description is finalized, a search firm working on behalf of the college will begin identifying qualified, interested candidates for consideration, according to Gregg Tewksbury, a member of the University System of New Hampshire board of trustees and chair of the search committee.

For now, the committee, which held its first meeting Tuesday, is focused on gathering community input, Tewksbury said. That effort includes an online survey and a pair of on-campus listening sessions later this week, where students, staff and faculty can speak to what they want to see in the college’s next president.

In June, Keene State announced it would conduct a nationwide search for its next leader, meaning current interim President Donald Birx would not continue his dual role as leader of both Keene and Plymouth State University.

Birx took over for former President Melinda Treadwell in October after she left for SUNY Geneseo in New York.

Keene State said in June that it expects the search to take roughly a year.

While Tewksbury and the committee have yet to discuss what level of experience it’s seeking in the college’s next leader, he said they want a leader who is sensitive to the alumni base, understands the companies that hire graduates and wants to work within a system of universities.

“We want a leader that’s going to be putting students, faculty and staff at the forefront of what they’re thinking about,” he said.

Leading a presidential search is a first for Tewksbury, which he said appointed him chair. He previously served as CEO and president of Savings Bank of Walpole before joining N.H. Mutual Bancorp in 2018.

Keene State’s search committee comprises students, faculty, staff and community and business leaders from the Keene area.

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