The Envoy

Hunter students, faculty and staff are gearing up for a nationwide search to find their next college president, CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez announced this past Thursday.

“We are excited about the process of identifying and recruiting an academic leader who will guide Hunter College into the future,” Rodríguez said, in his brief email to the Hunter community.

According to the chancellor, a designated search committee will aid in the pursuit for a new college president. The committee will consist of up to five members of the CUNY Board of Trustees, three tenured faculty members from Hunter and up to two senior-level administrators or chancellor-recommended representatives with significant ties to the Hunter community. It will also include two Hunter students, one alumnus or alumna and a president from another CUNY college, as outlined by the Board of Trustees’ presidential search guidelines.

In an effort to involve the greater Hunter community in this process, the Board of Trustees and the chancellor released a voluntary survey to assess the needs and priorities of the college. The survey prompts respondents to name the initiatives they would like to see the next president take on as well as the experiences and values they hope the president will embody.

A report containing community feedback will be used to establish a pool of qualified candidates who will be interviewed by the search committee. Three or four finalists from the pool will be selected to visit Hunter and talk with a group of representatives. After these meetings, the representatives will submit a review of each finalist to the chancellor, who will then nominate a candidate for recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

The search for new leadership comes after current President Jennifer J. Raab announced that she will leave the presidency at the end of the 2022-2023 academic school year. 

“It has been a privilege beyond measure to lead this exceptional institution for the past 22 years, in effect, through the entire 21st century,” Raab penned in a statement to the Hunter community last December.

“As I embark on my next professional adventure, I will always keep Hunter in my heart and continue to live and breathe the college motto — mihi cura futuri: the care of the future is mine.”

Raab began her tenure as the 13th president of Hunter College in 2001. Overseeing the largest CUNY campus with more than 24,000 students, she is currently the longest-serving president in the university’s history.

During her presidency, Raab helped renovate integral campus spaces like the Leon and Toby Cooperman Library. She restored and transformed the Roosevelt House into a public policy institute and facilitated the expansion of Hunter’s science, medical and liberal arts programs. Since taking office, Raab has fundraised more than $500 million on Hunter’s behalf. 

Chancellor Rodríguez anticipates CUNY and Hunter will complete its search for a new college president by the end of June, when Raab officially plans to step down from her post.