Presidential Search Committee gives Nov. 28 report The Presidential Search Committee conducted interviews of seven candidates Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 27 and 28. Each of the candidates has an impressive record of accomplishments, and the committee appreciates the care with which each of the candidates has approached the search process. (Eight had been selected for these interviews; one candidate had withdrawn from the search during the week before the interviews were held.) Following the interviews, the committee narrowed the field to five candidates who have been invited to campus for interviews in January 2008. Those five candidates are listed at the end of this report. The committee is enthusiastic about the slate of candidates who will visit our campus at the beginning of the spring semester. Each interview will have the candidate in our community for two full days of interview activities, with a few events likely to be scheduled for the day before and the day after those full interview days as well. As soon as individual schedules can be arranged, they will be posted on the presidential search web site. The committee will also provide forms that can be used to provide feedback on the candidates’ visits. The committee’s next (and final) meeting will be Monday, Jan. 28, when the committee will decide which candidates to recommend to the State Board of Higher Education. The board is scheduled to conduct its interviews of the finalists on Feb. 4. We hope that you’ll take a look at the January interview schedules when we publish them, and try to find an occasion to meet each of the candidates. Input that the committee received from various stakeholders early in this process helped guide the interviews we conducted during the last two days and the selections made from among those candidates, and we encourage people to remain engaged through this final stage of the committee’s process. -- Paul A. LeBel, dean, UND School of Law, chair, UND Presidential Search Committee. Candidates invited to campus for interviews between Jan. 8 and 25, 2008, with individual interview schedules to be announced. * Elbert, Dennis, dean, College of Business and Public Administration, University of North Dakota * Johnson, Phyllis, Beltsville Area director, USDA Agricultural Research Service * Kelley, Robert, dean, College of Health Sciences, University of Wyoming * Long, Kathleen, dean, College of Nursing, University of Florida * Smith, Bruce, dean, School of Aerospace Sciences, University of North Dakota