Final computing candidate visits campus

Candidates all well-qualified, says committee chair Ray English

The Director of Computing search committee interviewed the last of its three candidates, John Bucher, this week.

During their Oberlin visits, all three candidates gave presentations at open forums that faculty, staff and students were permitted to attend, and met with the Student Advisory Committee on Computing.

Next Tuesday the search committee will meet and read through the feedback about the candidates provided by those who participated in the forums and met with the candidates. Then the committee may decide to do one of several things - it might check on the candidates further, it might offer the position to one of the candidates, or it might decide to interview other candidates, an option, Director of Libraries and chair of the search committee Ray English said is unlikely.

"All three people are good candidates," English said. He said that all in all the feedback for each candidate has been "pretty favorable."

English said the search has gone well. "We did a good job identifying good candidates."

The committee, English said, is looking for the candidate with the "best combination of experience and personal qualities." The selected candidate will begin work July 1.

The forums, English said, have been "pretty well attended." Approximately 20 to 25 people attended the forums, most of them faculty and computing center staff. Student turnout was low compared to the faculty and computing center staff turnout, and at the Bucher forum, no students were in attendance. English said it was disappointing that more students were not in attendance, but he attributed part of this to its being a "pretty busy time of year."

The other two candidates - Gene Spencer and Judy Downing - visited in February. Spencer is the acting director of computing at Bucknell, and Downing is the director of computing at Swarthmore.

Bucher is the director of computing and network services at Kansas State University. During his forum he outlined his vision for the future of information management and computing with the aid of an overhead projector.

During his forum, Bucher said that his emphasis is on people and communication. "Technology is not the important thing, it's what people have done with technology," Bucher said.

Describing his vision: John Bucher, computing center candidate, met with faculty in an open forum. (photo by Michelle Becker)