Margaret Drugovich, a 48-year-old native of Geneva, Ohio, was named as the 10th president of Hartwick College by its board of trustees Thursday.
She is the vice president for strategic communications and university enrollment at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. She will take office at Hartwick on July 1.
She was one of four finalists to visit the Hartwick campus in recent weeks. She succeeds Richard P. Miller Jr., who announced his retirement last summer, effective June 30.
Hartwick's director of communications and marketing, Francis Borrego, said the private college would not comment on either her starting salary or Miller's current salary. In 2002, the college president's salary was $170,332, according to an IRS filing.
"I am delighted I will be joining the college," Drugovich said by phone. "To be invited to lead a college of the quality of Hartwick is truly a privilege."
She said she has known about Hartwick for a number of years and has always held it in high regard.
"It's an institution that always does education right," she said.
This includes combining a great liberal-arts education with experiential learning, she said.
The J-Term internships and studies abroad are critical elements to the Hartwick experience, she added, and create building blocks that benefit the students after they graduate. She also noted that the priority Hartwick has placed on sustainability sets it apart.
Drugovich has seen recent newspaper articles about the possible elimination of Division I sports programs but said she does not have an opinion, not having been part of that process.
She has been at Ohio Wesleyan since 1998 and is responsible for student recruitment and admissions, financial aid and integrated university-wide communications. Under her leadership, the college experienced growth in enrollment while maintaining the quality and diversity of the student body, according to a release from Hartwick. Ohio Wesleyan is a private liberal arts college with 1,850 students. The enrollment at Hartwick is 1,480.
Before that, she served as dean of admissions and financial aid, along with other positions, from 1989 at Bryant University at Smithfield, R.I.
Hartwick's 12-member search committee unanimously recommended Drugovich to the board of trustees.
Richard Clapp, a member of the board and chairman of the search committee, said the group was impressed by her knowledge of the college environment.
She is "clear, concise and crisp in her articulation of the challenges facing Hartwick," he said.
Board chairman Karl Mosch said Drugovich impressed with her grasp of the essence of Hartwick, its challenges and needs for the future.
"I believe that she has not only the appropriate perspective, but also the skills and the passion to advance our college," he said.
Hartwick faces the issues that face similar institutions of higher learning, Drugovich said.
To better deal with the future, she said, "the college community needs to go through a careful planning process so we know the course to meeting our aspiration."
In addition, more needs to be done to let the community know what Hartwick has to offer, she said. If that occurs, "everything else is in place to move the college to the next level."
Miller said in a media release, "I am confident that she will be an effective leader of the college. I will do everything possible through the process of transition and afterward to support her success."
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