After months of nationwide searching, VSU has found four presidential candidates to potentially take Dr. Louis Levy’s place in July.

The VSU Presidential Search and Screen Committee will spend the duration of February interviewing the four candidates to become the ninth University President.

A search began on Sept. 8, some months after Dr. Patrick Schloss resigned to take the position of the University System of Georgia’s Assistant to Executive Vice Chancellor.

Since Schloss’ resignation, Dr. Louis Levy has been serving as the university’s Interim President.

“[The search] is a process of announcing the vacancy in as many places as possible, soliciting applications and evaluating against our criteria which are posted in the position description,” Phyllis Holland, Professor and Head of the Department of Management, said.

After the Search and Screen Committee reviewed the applicants, the campaign narrowed to the four candidates. The candidates will visit VSU within the next couple of weeks so the university community may meet and interview each nominee.

One candidate, Dr. Michael Lane, was the president of Emporia State University from 2006 to 2011. While president, he worked hard to reach out to the student body on a personable level and connect with other universities, according to his resumé.

Dr. Lane plans to visit VSU on Feb. 13. He will speak and answer questions from 9 to 10 a.m.in the Student Union Theatre.

Another candidate, Dr. Bill McKinney, has served as Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne since 2008.

Dr. McKinney will visit VSU and take questions from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre on Feb. 14.

Candidate Dr. Cheryl Norton worked at several universities and educational associations. Dr. Norton served as president of Southern Connecticut State University from 2004 to 2010.

She will speak and answer questions at VSU from 9 to10 a.m. in the Student Union Theatre on Feb. 16.

Dr. Ray Alden worked at several universities, holding numerous positions and is the Executive Vice President and Provost of Northern Illinois University, a position he has held since 2006.

Dr. Alden has a long list of professional service to both education and environmental studies and preservation. Dr. Alden will visit the campus on Feb. 20, from 9 to10 a.m. in the Student Union Ballroom A.

After the campus interviews, the Search and Screen Committee will recommend candidates to the Special Regent’s Search Committee, which will then begin the second phase of the process. Finalists will be announced at a later date. The committee hopes to have a new president by July 1.