Hall, one of the three finalists for the Vice President for Student Affairs, presented Wednesday morning in the Living Learning Center on South Green.
The recent hiring of the University of Miami’s new football coach helped Ricardo Hall make the decision to apply for the position of Ohio University’s vice president for Student Affairs.
Hall said hearing the coach, a Miami alumnus, talk about returning to his alma mater had an impact on him.
“I’m not trying to sound corny or anything, but it really did resonate with me,” Hall, an OU alumnus, said. Hall serves as the associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students at the University of Miami.
Hall, one of the three finalists for the vice president for Student Affairs position, presented at an open forum Wednesday morning in the Living Learning Center on South Green to about 100 people. He discussed how the departments in student affairs contribute to creating a transformative learning community at OU.
Hall received his master’s degree in higher education administration and his bachelor’s degree in business management at OU. He went on to Clemson University and received his Doctor of Philosophy in educational leadership.
“The timing's right, my skills and experience are right for the position,” Hall said, adding that he has considered the vice president position at OU before, but this is his first time applying.
In his presentation, Hall said he can add value to OU and discussed what being transformative means for each department in student affairs, whether that be ensuring a student’s safety or fostering equity.
OU’s former vice president for Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi accepted the job as vice president for Student and Campus Life at Cornell University before leaving OU on July 3. After Lombardi’s announcement, Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones was named interim vice president for Student Affairs and July 1 was her first day in that position.
The three finalists for the vice president for Student Affairs are Hall, David Parrott and Jason Pina. Parrott and Pina are administrators at Texas A&M University and Bridgewater State University, respectively.
“I think he showed understanding about what we do as a division,” Assistant Dean of Students Jamie Patton said. “I really appreciated his talks about why Ohio University and why now. I think he’s definitely thought through this big decision.”
Hall-Jones said it was wonderful that so many people attended.
"There were a lot of people from the division staff and some division partners," Hall-Jones said. "I didn’t feel like I saw a lot of students at the open forum so it would be really great if we could get more students to attend the next one."
Those at Wednesday’s event were given a paper to fill out to evaluate the candidate by marking if Hall is acceptable or unacceptable, as well as writing his strengths and weaknesses, or concerns he or she may have.
Pete Trentacoste, executive director of Housing and Residence Life, introduced Hall and reminded those in attendance to fill out the forms as they would be given to the search committee.
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The search firm Brill-Neumann and Associates has been working with a search committee chaired by Executive President and Provost Pam Benoit that comprises faculty, staff and students. OU is paying the search firm $70,000 plus expenses, according to a previous Post report.
Parrott will present at the March 7 open forum and Pina will present at the one on March 9. Both will take place at the Living Learning Commons on South Green from 10-10:45 a.m.
The selected candidate will be announced before the end of Spring Semester, according to a previous Post report.
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