The change in administrative leadership that
took place in December 2008 with the departure
of Chancellor Larry Patten began a process
that has spanned nearly a year and has resulted
in identifying a new chancellor to lead Palmer
College into the future.
With Mr. Patten’s retirement 12 months
ago, the Palmer Board of Trustees asked
Mr. William Wilke, a respected Quad-City
area businessman and a member of the
Palmer Board since 1998, to serve as interim
chancellor until a search for a new chancellor
could be conducted.
“From the outset, our goal has been to be thorough
and committed to finding the most qualified
candidate to lead this institution,” said
Chairman of the Board Trevor Ireland, D.C.
“We will never lose sight of our responsibility
for doing what is best for Palmer College.”
That search process began in early 2009
when the Board established an ad hoc
committee to lead the efforts. Led by Board
Member Mr. Ken Koupal, the seven-person
committee interviewed several executive
search organizations. In early April, the Board
selected Diversified Search, a Philadelphiabased
executive search firm, to assist with
the chancellor search and selection process.
Following a series of meetings on each campus
with administrators, faculty, staff, students,
alumni and local business leaders, the Committee
worked with Diversified Search to
develop the chancellor job description and
recruitment strategy.
“This was an incredibly helpful exercise
and involved many people in the process,”
said Dr. Ireland. “I want to thank everyone
who took time to share their thoughts and
insights.”
“We promoted this position through online
recruitment resources, advertisements in
various chiropractic, health care and higher
education publications, and communications
from the College to alumni,” said Mr. Koupal.
“Diversified Search also reviewed their expansive
pool of nationally-known candidates
from past searches.”
To help further evaluate the candidates being
considered, the College enlisted help from
others including a search advisory group
consisting of Scott Haldeman, D.C., M.D.,
Ph.D., Charles Keller, D.C., Vickie Palmer,
Michael Pedigo, D.C., and Ed Rogalski, Ph.D.
The original candidate pool was narrowed
to 27 to eight to three. From those three
finalists, a single nominee was recommended
by the Committee to the full Board at its
late-October meeting.
“We recognize that this is certainly one of
the most important decisions we, the Board,
has made,” said Dr. Ireland. “The process we
followed was designed to prepare Palmer
College for the future.”