'Help wanted,' still, at St. Mary's College

The board of trustees for St. Mary's College of Maryland announced last week that it had not reached consensus on a new president and would continue its search.

The board had planned to find a replacement for Jane Margaret "Maggie" O'Brien by this time. O'Brien announced in January that she would step down as president but might continue to teach at the liberal arts college.

"There wasn't a consensus," said Molly Mahoney, chairman of the presidential search committee.

She added, "About one-third of presidential searches end in reopening the search, so it isn't that unusual."

The school's search committee had narrowed the field to four choices: former U.S. representative James Bacchus (D-Fla.), an international lawyer who had worked for the World Trade Organization; Katherine Conway-Turner, a former provost at the State University of New York at Geneseo and founder of Leaders Across Boundaries, a consulting firm for higher education; MaryAnn Baenninger, president of the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota; and Joseph Bruno, vice president for academic affairs and provost at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

The trustees received petitions with nearly 160 signatures from students and nearly 170 from alumni who voiced concern over whether the search committee had found candidates who would make good leaders for the school.

"I love the involvement of the campus community at SMCM. . . I love that we have students, faculty, staff and trustees who care so much about the college," Mahoney said.

Ben Wyskida, a Class of 1999 alumnus, helped to organize the alumni petition. He said many of the alumni did not see a candidate who had strong connections to the college, the region, the curriculum or fundraising.

"We are really grateful for the board of trustees for taking more time with the search," Wyskida said. "It is not an easy decision for them to start over, but sometimes you have to. We think the new search will yield a president who is a great fit for the college."

Supply falls short of demand for seasonal, swine flu shots

Seasonal flu clinics throughout the area are being postponed for lack of the inoculations. In Charles County, members of the health-care community were able to get their swine flu shots last week, but the rest of the community is still waiting.

Most students in St. Mary's County public schools have received the seasonal flu shot, but the county has run out of the vaccine.

"They are postponed. They are not canceled," Karen Everett, a spokeswoman for St. Mary's County's health department, said of flu shot clinics.