CLIENT: A prestigious research-based university

EXECUTIVES: Dean of the Business School


BUSINESS UNIT: Executive Education

Recruiting Challenge: Top Executive Education firm seeks candidate from outside their industry 

The Situation

Rice Cohen was retained by one of the world’s most renowned educational institutions to find them an Executive Director of Executive Education. They previously had a faculty member in that role that had been doing well but they were ready to take the Executive Education division to the next level. They were looking for someone with strong businesses development and leadership experience within Executive Educational. The university did their due diligence and interviewed 6 search firms before choosing one to partner with. They ultimately chose Rice Cohen due to our ability to bring 30 years of industry experience in executive education, learning and development, and management consulting.

Solution Implemented

Our first approach to the search was to identify every executive education director in the region and across the U.S. and from there we branched out to senior business development individuals as well as consultants. Our research team put together a list of 138 qualified candidates across the three industries that we focused on. Our executive consultant leading the search was able to get 60 currently employed potential candidates interested in the role and interviewed them using our behavior based interviewing model.

The Search Results

The Executive Consultant leading the search met with University Leadership to present a list of 13 qualified candidates. They decided to move forward and interview 7 of the 13 candidates. After conducting 7 skype interviews, our client chose 3 candidates to come in for a full day of interviews and to give a presentation. The client made an offer to their candidate of choice in less than 90 days. Both parties were very happy with the end result and Rice Cohen was awarded another search based on the relationships we built at the University.