A 12-person search committee recently winnowed down the pool of potential presidents from eight to two. Remaining are a successful businessman with roots in education, and a successful educator with considerable experience in finance.Each candidate visited campus this week so the college could learn about him and, alternately, so each candidate could determine if Guilford is a good fit for him. Regardless of whether one candidate is ultimately offered the job, he could decline it, in which case the search would resume.

The search committee will read and summarize the evaluation forms that were handed out to all who attended the candidates’ on-campus presentations. That summarized input of faculty, staff, and students will be delivered to the Board of Trustees, which will convene on Sat., March 23.

Ellen Hamrich, who chairs the search committee and reads all evaluations personally, said that a final decision might come from the Board of Trustees as early as Saturday. She stressed, however, that an official public announcement might not come for a few weeks, giving the administration time to negotiate a contract and clear up all other minutiae surrounding the induction of a new college president.

The Candidates

Andy Sharpless, the first candidate, most recently worked for Discovery Communications as its executive vice president for Interactive Media. He previously served as senior vice president of WebActive, a division of RealNetworks.

He earned his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in economics from Harvard College, and his law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

Kent Chabotar recently announced that he would be stepping down from his position as treasurer and vice president for finance and administration at Bowdoin College, a prestigious liberal arts institution in Maine.

A scholar, lecturer, and author of five books on finance and education, Chabotar earned his bachelor’s degree from Saint Francis University, magna cum laude, in political science, and his doctorate in public administration from Syracuse University.

Sharpless is a Quaker while Chabotar is not, but the job description states, “. it should be noted that the candidates need not be Quaker.” To date, all seven of Guilford’s presidents have been Quakers.

Andy Sharpless

In separate presentations to nearly every faction of the college and community, Sharpless outlined what his goals would be as president. His inexperience as an educator, he said, would require a “year to come up to speed” during which he would rely somewhat on administrators for support and guidance.

“I’m here chiefly because it’s a Quaker college and I believe Quaker colleges can really give something special to their students, and through their students to the world,” Sharpless said.

He called himself a “non-traditional candidate” and repeatedly said that his most important action would be balancing the school’s budget, which would involve budget cuts in many aspects of college operations.

Balancing the budget comes under the maximization of resources (operational management), one of four major priorities he named.

Another would be to further define and clarify the college’s mission. In his application cover letter he writes, “I would try to determine whether its mission was clear and sharply focused, or as can sometimes happen to resource-constrained but well-intentioned institutions, a somewhat fuzzy and overly broad attempt to try to please too many conflicting agendas and constituencies.”

Third, he would earn money for the school’s endowment through fundraising and other revenue-generators that may not have been previously utilized.

And fourth, he would work to hire and retain the best faculty and enroll and retain the best students.

Kent Chabotar

Kent Chabotar, who had not yet visited campus and could not be reached by The Guilfordian before this issue went to print, did not express what his goals would be as president in his cover letter, but laid out his credentials.

“Unlike most chief financial officers in higher education, I possess a working knowledge of the academic program, our core business,” he writes under the heading “Academic Experience,” the first of nine qualities he feels a college president must embody.

The letter then explains in depth that his past experience working with students in non-academic settings would benefit Guilford students to that degree. He explains that his work with Bowdoin’s budget for over 10 years would enable him to manage Guilford’s budget well, and because of his close work with Bowdoin’s fundraisers, he has learned many aspects of development and college relations.

Chabotar further states his strengths in leadership and employee development, sharing governance, external relations, and last, core values. Of core values, he writes, “Although an overused term, I contend that the core values of an institution and its current and prospective community members must be compatible.