MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The search for Middle Tennessee State University’s next president remains on track and on time, members of the search committee said Monday, Sept. 28, with the expectation that more applicants will emerge by the mid-October deadline to express interest in becoming the university’s 11th chief executive.

“The goal is to have a smooth transition and I think that’s likely going to happen,” said Chair Stephen B. Smith, who at Monday’s Board of Trustees quarterly meeting at Miller Education Center shared an update on the process to replace retiring President Sidney A. McPhee by year’s end.

All 12 trustees, plus retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Huber, the university’s senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, are members of the Presidential Search Committee. Los Angeles-based Korn Ferry, a global organizational consulting firm, was hired by MTSU to assist the committee in the search.

Smith said the committee held numerous listening sessions in September, totaling more than 15 hours, with various constituency groups. “Our goal was to do as many listening sessions as suggested,” he said. “Copious notes have been taken as to what they think we should be looking for.”

The deadline for applications and nominations is Oct. 15. The committee will then review submissions, identify candidates for further consideration and conduct initial interviews. It plans to select finalists in November to invite to campus for interviews and public forums.

“The timeline that we have proposed, which is the end of the year pretty much, is realistic,” said Trustees Vice Chair Christine Karbowiak Vanek. “But, as Chairman Smith has mentioned many times, we are looking for the right person.

“We expect that the timeline will allow for that, but if it doesn’t, we’re just going to continue until we get the right person.”

Trustee Tom Boyd said Korn Ferry has been tasked with collecting the names of applicants and nominees — and the committee has yet to see the list. As such, he said, there are no “pre-selected” candidates.

“We don’t know who they are, we’ve not seen them,” Boyd said. “We’re waiting like everyone to see them after Oct. 15.”

McPhee earlier this year announced his decision to retire as the university’s president in December after serving for more than 25 years as the institution’s chief executive officer.

More information about the presidential search process can be found on the university’s homepage, www.mtsu.edu.

In other action at Monday’s board meeting, trustees:

• Approved the appointment of Dr. Linda Gibson-Young as the Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services. Gibson-Young now serves as the Dr. Bill Lazenby Endowed Professor of Auburn University’s College of Nursing.
• Approved the university’s 10-year facilities master plan, which outlines priorities for MTSU that would “strengthen its academic core through improved program organization, better adjacencies, strategic facility modernization, and targeted new construction that supports evolving teaching, research, and collaboration needs.”

— Andrew Oppmann ([email protected])