Presidential search committee holds first meeting

The presidential search committee, which is in charge of finding IU's next president, will hold its first meeting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, in the Distinguished Alumni Room of the Indiana Memorial Union. \nThe 17-member committee will search for a replacement for IU President Myles Brand, who announced Oct. 10 that he will leave the University to head up the NCAA starting Jan. 1. IU Purdue University at Indianapolis Chancellor Gerald Bepko was named as his replacement until a new president is appointed July 1, 2003. \nThe committee is made up of administrative officials and faculty from four of IU's eight campuses, trustees Sue Talbot and Stephen Ferguson, prominent Indiana leaders and one student.\nThe committee's student member Blair Greenberg, junior and IU Student Association treasurer, has been assigned the job of gathering market research. \n"Basically, we have been gathering information on what students are looking for in a president," Greenberg said. \nAlongside student trustee Sacha I. Willsey, a graduate student in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Greenberg traveled around IU's campuses to compile this information. They found the students took the job of the president seriously.\n"Students have told me they are interested in someone who is focused in academics, someone who will lead the University," Greenberg said. \nIU spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said the search committee will employ the help of a professional search firm, Baker, Parker and Associates Inc., from Atlanta, to assist them in the process. On Friday, Jerry Baker of the firm announced to the search committee and to the board of trustees that in order to attract the best candidates for the job and stay competitive, the University may have to offer from $600,000 to $800,000 to the next president. During his last year as IU president, Brand earned $307,660.\nFerguson, the chair of the committee and its primary spokesperson, could not be reached at press time. \nFor more information on the search for IU's next president, log on to www.indiana.edu/~nextpres/.