Maximizing Your Potential: From Statement of Interest to the Campus Visit

Article by: Rev. Dr. James (Jim) L. Martin*,
Senior Consultant & Member, The Registry
and Dr. Robert (Bob) V. Smith**,
Senior Consultant, The Registry

Placements of Registry Interims are largely dependent on efforts prior to and during interviews and discussions leading up to the engagement of chosen appointees. Knowing how important a compelling Statement of Interest (SOI) can be in supporting the processes, we developed and presented a set of presentations on the SOI and its crafting at The Registry’s Annual Seminar in November 2019 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we had a good deal of time to think about our earlier efforts leading up to The Registry’s Annual Seminar in Memphis in November 2022. The reflections led to expanded presentations that were offered on Friday November 4 and Sunday November 6, 2022. The attendance of approximately 50 Registry Members and guests was gratifying, and we are pleased to report that other Registry Senior Consultants and staff attended and contributed a variety of perspectives from their own experiences to the discussions. As a result, we then decided to offer the elements of our collective efforts to the entire Registry membership, and we are grateful that Registry Intern Cedric Atty facilitated the publication of this work.

The Memphis presentations relied on five short documents, which are described briefly below, along with links to facilitate complete access:

1) The two-page document, “Becoming a Candidate: Strategies to Prepare an Effective Statement of Interest,” contains a series of tips such as including members’ reasons for interest in positions, their skills and experiences that can be employed to help institutions’ unique challenges, and positive wrap-up statements, among others and can be found here: URL

2) The 13-page PDF version of the PowerPoint that guided our presentations, contains further elaborations on SOI-content along with advice on preparing for and participating in interviews and is accessible here:

3) A two-page document, “Interview Suggestions: Performance, Cautions, and Faux Pas,” offers additional advice and suggestions regarding successful interviews, and is found here: URL

4) In the interview document noted above, there are references to an excellent Registry Chronicles article, “Acing Your Zoom Interview,” prepared by Registry Director of Client Support, Nikki Cormier, and it can be reviewed here: URL

5) The finally referenced document, “The Expectations Document: Key to a Successful Placement,” appeared earlier in Registry Chronicles, but is updated and provided here: URL

We sincerely hope that this short introduction and set of references will be helpful to all Registry Members who wish to “Maximize Their Potential” for successful and gratifying placements as Registry Interims.

Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Registry Vice President Jackie Armitage who authored the original “Statement of Interest” document that has been adopted (i.e., document number 1 above), with permission, for use in our recent presentations. Also, we appreciate Registry Intern Cedric Atty’s efforts in developing the “Senior Consultants Spotlight Experiences” feature for Registry Chronicles.

* Rev. Dr. James (Jim) L. Martin, Senior Consultant & Member, The Registry, and former Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at Mount Ida College.
** Dr. Robert (Bob) V. Smith, Senior Consultant, The Registry, and former Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Provost and Senior Vice President at Texas Tech University.