SUNY Niagara announces finalists in presidential search

Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·4 min read

Mar. 15—The four finalists in the SUNY Niagara president search will take part in open forums next week at the college.

The committee leading the search has invited four finalists to visit its Sanborn campus and the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute starting Monday. They are Andrew W. Bowne, Ed.D., Lloyd A. Holmes, Ph.D., Rai Kathuria, Ph.D. and Jason Adsit, Ph.D.

"We are delighted with the progress of our presidential search and excited to welcome these finalists to SUNY Niagara," said SUNY Niagara Board of Trustees Chairman Kevin Clark, who also leads the Presidential Search Committee. "Our committee has done excellent work to bring the search to this point. We look forward to introducing finalists to the college community."

The college's 19-member Presidential Search Committee identified the four finalists through a national search with the assistance of RH Perry, a search firm specializing in higher education.

The search for the college's eighth president began last fall with school officials hoping to have the next president in place by July 1. William Murabito, who became the institution's seventh president in 2019 after having served in an interim role for two years, will retire on June 30.

The committee has arranged a series of in-person sessions for each finalist to meet with various constituents. Finalists will spend time with the institution's board of trustees, its leadership group, union leaders, the college's Academic Council, faculty and staff. SUNY Niagara also has scheduled these open forums for students and members of the community to meet each finalist:

—Andrew W. Bowne from 1:15 -2:15 p.m. Monday in the Dining Commons of the main cafeteria on the second floor of G Building

—Lloyd A. Holmes from 1:15 -2:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Community Room on the second floor of G Building

—Rai Kathuria from 1:15 -2:15 p.m. Thursday in the Dining Commons

—Jason Adsit from 1:15 -2:15 p.m. Friday in the Dining Commons

Bowne has served for more than 20 years in senior leadership positions at Grand Rapids Community College (Michigan), Ivy Tech Community College (Indiana), and Johnson County Community College (Kansas). At Johnson County Community College, he served as president & CEO leading the college to a sharpened focus on student success, serving employers and the community, and growing enrollment. At Ivy Tech, he started as a regional chancellor, and was promoted to guide the leadership teams of the 18 campuses as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. At Grand Rapids Community College, Bowne led two distinctively different teams. He first led non-credit training, moving this work from being a financial challenge to a position of instructional and operational excellence. He was then asked to lead the fundraising efforts, where they raised over $30 million in private support and another $30 million in regional, state, and federal grant funding over a seven-year period.

Holmes, a veteran educator with a track record of removing barriers to student success, became the fourth president of De Anza College on July 1, 2020, since its founding in 1967. Before joining De Anza, Holmes was vice president of student services at Monroe Community College in Rochester, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system of two-and four-year schools. He also provided statewide leadership in the SUNY system by mentoring other colleges on a major student success initiative and by serving on a statewide task force on student hunger.

Kathuria is the provost and senior vice president of academic and student affairs for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. He joined the CSCU system in June 2022 with experience in system-wide efforts with faculty, staff, and administrators, bringing with him strategic, collaborative, and innovative leadership. At CSCU, he oversees the academic and student affairs portfolio for four Connecticut State Universities, one community college with 12 locations, and a 100% online state college.

Adsit currently serves as the special consultant to the Board of Trustees at Mount Saint Mary College, where he advises the board on a broad range of analytical projects in the areas of enrollment management, retention, institutional research and advancement. Adsit previously served as Mount Saint Mary College's president, where he oversaw the development of the college's latest strategic plan, its comprehensive fundraising campaign, and its overall operating plan during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For more information, visit the SUNY Niagara Presidential webpage.