SOUTHEAST NARROWS LIST OF PRESIDENT CANDIDATES

Southeast Missouri State University's search committee has narrowed the list of candidates for president from 121 to 14.

The committee narrowed the field at a closed-door meeting Monday and hopes to recommend three or more finalists to the Board of Regents by late March.

A new president could be hired at the regents' April 23 meeting, committee members said.

The search process began after Southeast President Dr. Kala Stroup resigned last summer to become Missouri's commissioner of higher education.

The regents then hired Dr. Bill Atchley to serve as the school's president during the search.

The field of 14 candidates could be expanded later since no deadline has been set for receiving applications, said Donald Harrison, president of the Board of Regents and co-chairman of the search committee.

The committee previously was divided into two teams, which reviewed the applications.

"They came with their best recommendations," Harrison said, adding that the recommendations of the two teams almost matched.

The 14 candidates easily stood out from the rest, he said.

Harrison said committee members will check the candidates' references before meeting again Feb. 19 to narrow the list to about eight.

In March the committee will interview those candidates in St. Louis. Harrison said the interviews probably will be conducted over two days. The committee then hopes to select the names of the finalists later in the month.

The names of the finalists will be publicly disclosed. The current schedule calls for the finalists to visit the Southeast campus in early April.

"We are right on schedule," said Regent Lynn Dempster, who co-chairs the search committee. "The committee is doing its job well."