That was exactly what the Weber State University Presidential Search Committee was trying to find out with its first in-person listening session on the WSU campus Monday afternoon.

Over the course of an hour, WSU students, faculty, staff and members fo the public had an opportunity to voice what they felt the state should be looking for in a potential candidate.

Weber State University Presidential Search Committee Co-Chair Javier Chavez Jr. said that this is a serious effort ot gather input.

“This is just not a dog-and-pony show — we want to hear from you,” he said in the introduction to Monday’s session. “We want to hear your input and comments with regards to the search committee and about who should be the next president of Weber State University.”

Search Committee Co-Chair Ally Isom also went over the committee’s goals in the coming months and how the feedback would be used.

“We have, I would say, a fantastic search committee for this search which is made up of Weber State students, faculty staff and alumni as well as Board of Higher Education and Board of Trustee members,” she said. “The search committee will host two public meetings like this one to receive input from faculty, staff, students, alumni and the community — one online and one on campus. Today’s the campus hearing and you can submit additional input via email or anonymous feedback throughout the search. … The next part of our process, we’ll interview the most qualified candidates and recommend, as a committee, three finalists to the Board of Higher Education for their consideration.”

She said the Board of Higher Education would then interview those candidates and pick one of them to serve Weber State going forward.

“The search process will be thorough and often takes several months, or more, to complete,” she said. “We are committed to doing our due diligence. The timeline, however, is dictated by the search committee and we will take the time necessary to identify finalists who are the right fit for Weber State’s next president. There are great things happening here and we want to make sure those things continue and that we address places we can grow and improve as well.”

Monday’s discussion was guided by a set of four questions:

• What challenges and opportunities await the next president of Weber State University?
• What are the main priorities for this role and for Weber State University?
• Please identify qualifications and attributes you’d like to see in the next president of WSU. What adjectives would you use to describe the ideal candidate?
• In your opinion, what would constitute a successful presidency?

Several WSU students and members of WSU faculty came forward over the course of Monday’s session noting they’d like to a see a president that’s focused on students and able to navigate a changing educational landscape.

Chavez closed out the session by reiterating that the committee will take the feedback and suggestions of all of those who have spoken up seriously.

“Please believe me when I say we really care about this endeavor,” he said. “We want to find the best president for this great university and for this great community. I was born and raised here, I’ve got family here, this community helped build me. Weber is in my blood, so I really care about finding the next great president for this great university.”

He said feedback from Monday’s session and the online session later this week will be considered when crafting a job description for the position.

“We’re going to take this information, we’ve got multiple note-takers, we’re going to incorporate this information into crafting essentially a job description and integrating the ethos of our endeavor into finding the right person,” he said.

The next public feedback session will be held virtually from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday via Zoom.

Additional suggestions or comments regarding the presidential search may be sent to wsupresidentialsearch@ushe.edu or by submitting an anonymous comment online ushe.edu/2025-wsu-presidential-search-feedback.

For more information, visit https://www.weber.edu/presidentialsearch. The Zoom meeting link for THursday can also be found here.