Search committee meets for the first time

The Presidential Search Committee met for the first time Wednesday on the IU Purdue University-Indianapolis campus.\nThe profiles of potential candidates were discussed and Shelly W. Storbeck, the committee's consultant from Edward W. Kelley and Partners, outlined the search criteria, said Trustee Sue Talbot, who is chairing the committee.\nThe committee is searching for a candidate with "demonstrated understanding of the academic enterprise and experience in articulating and defending academic values" and "proven managerial experience with a large and diverse staff of a complex academic enterprise," among several other qualities, according to a position announcement the committee released after the meeting.\nTalbot declined to announce a time table for when the new president might be named.\n"We will be establishing a time table that will include whatever we need to ensure the very best fit for Indiana University," she said in an e-mail. "We will search until we find the right candidate for this job."\nTalbot and the trustees will conduct two open forums Friday on the Bloomington campus for public input regarding the search for the next president. The forums will be held from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Redbud Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nCurrent IU President Adam Herbert said in June he would consider stepping down before his contract runs out in 2008 if a replacement is found before then.\n"Presidential searches are very difficult," Herbert said in a June 29 Indiana Daily Student article. "What this is essentially doing is giving the board two years of total flexibility to choose the next president for Indiana University, and I just think that's the optimal situation for the institution"