Higher Education Practice

Hiring the right talent is as critical to university planning as program development, accreditation planning or raising endowment funds. The most effective way to assemble a top leadership team is to partner with an experienced search team that can lend expert advice and guidance.

Founded in 1978, EFL Associates serves institutions ranging from small, privately-held college and faith-based colleges, to large public universities. We have successfully assisted clients in identifying and attracting top-notch academic leaders for the positions of Chancellor, President, Provost, Dean, and significant administrative roles. We aim to find highly motivated, professional candidates whose skills align precisely with the needs of our client colleges and universities.

To assist with the dissemination and evaluation of candidate information, EFL Associates invests in and makes available to all clients an electronic platform that allows Search Committee members instant access to all candidate information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This allows for streamlined, productive committee discussions and a secure, confidential environment for candidates.

• On average our searches are completed 40 days faster than industry benchmarks.
• 96% retention rate after the first year of employment
• 75% of the presidents placed in the past fifteen years are still in office today
• 51% of our placements over the last ten years have been women and/or underrepresented minorities
• We are not tied to faceless databases.  70% of all candidates ultimately hired were directly and personally recruited by EFL Associates

Comprehensive Search follows the traditional pattern of assisted academic searches, beginning with campus focus groups and guiding the process through final placement. Consultants will meet personally with the search committee at several key times throughout the process.

Candidate Identification follows the Comprehensive Search process up to the selection of finalist candidates. The client is then responsible for arranging and conducting final campus interviews, off-list referencing, background investigations, compensation negotiations.

LaunchPlus is designed to launch a search effectively and to build a diverse pool of candidates. The process concludes with the identification of the "preferred" pool of candidates from which semi-finalists are likely to be chosen. As with Candidate Identification engagements, the client completes the search.