The search will soon be underway for a new president at the University of North Dakota.
A search committee has been named. A consultant will be hired to help with the search.
Former Board of Higher Education member Grant Shaft will co-chair the search committee. He expects there will be a lot of interest in the position.
"It's a major research university," said Shaft. "Given the size of the campus, the enrollment and all that goes with that, I would expect a lot of applicants -- even from different backgrounds, not just academia."
Some critics of the North Dakota University System say the campus presidents have too much power – and sometimes go their own way, instead of answering to a chancellor or the Board of Higher Education.
Could that factor in to the search for a new University of North Dakota president?
"I'm not thinking about the context of which that person leads," said Former North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman, who's on the search committee. "I'm thinking more about the quality of the person I would like to lead UND."
Poolman says he wants to let the politics work itself out through the system and the Legislature.
"My job on the search committee is to find the best leader I can to lead my alma mater for years to come," said Poolman.
Current UND President Robert Kelley is stepping down in January.
