The Slippery Rock University Board of Governors will have a difficult decision to make in picking a new person to lead the college.

Jeff Smith, an SRU trustee and chairman of the Presidential Search Committee, said after meeting the final four candidates for the position over the course of last week, that any one of them could make a good president of the university.

“I thought, before any of the candidates came on campus, we had a great pool of individuals,” Smith said. “After watching them on campus for a week, it's an even better group than I initially thought.”

SRU’s current president, William Behre, announced his retirement in February, to be effective June 30. The search committee formed shortly after to select Behre’s successor.

The committee hired RPA Inc., a Williamsport-based executive search and consulting firm, to assist. The firm is assisting with contact among constituency groups, with which the search committee is consulting to learn about what the various campus communities would like to see in a new president.

The search committee hosted the four candidates for on-campus tours, talks and forums last week.

The four candidates interviewed are Chance Glenn, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Houston-Victoria; Karen Riley, provost at Regis University; David Jones, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management at Minnesota State University; and Mirta Martin, former president at Fairmont State University. Smith said the search committee plans to narrow down the field to a final two this week, who will then be presented to the Council of Trustees.

Each candidate followed an identical two-day itinerary for on-campus interviews, which included meetings with the provosts, deans and the council of trustees; meetings with the president’s cabinet; lunch with invited students; a campus tour; and forums with several campus and community branches.

According to Smith, the forums "demonstrated a lot of interest.“

“We did it by Zoom because we wanted to make it available to people who don't live in the area,” Smith said. “They were pretty representative. ... I believe I heard 50 people attended on Zoom.”

Smith said should the Council of Trustees accept the search committee’s recommendation at its regular meeting, which takes place Thursday and Friday, the Board of Governors could begin its evaluation as soon as next week. He said, however, that the president likely won’t be named until at least the beginning of 2023.

While the council would have to vote to accept the search committee’s findings before sending them to the Board of Governors, Smith said he is confident that the members of the search committee are a diligent group who all have different knowledge and perspectives.

“There's other people on the committee that are the experts on the academics side,” Smith said. “Those are the people who give their input on whether or not this person has the educational background to do the job. That's why having a diverse search committee is good.”

Additionally, Smith said he is personally interested in choosing a president who will make SRU an even larger Butler County entity.

“My big thing — what I really am looking for — is will this person be a good face of the university,” Smith said. “I'm looking for a leader who will be able to reach out and make Slippery Rock University even more a fabric of the community throughout all of Butler County.”