SLIPPERY ROCK — A tie vote has sent a group trying to pick Slippery Rock University's next president back to the drawing board.

The vote Friday by the school's board of trustees to pick the top two candidates came amid a controversy stirred by trustee Robert S. Taylor in a letter addressed to board President William McCarrier.

In the letter, Taylor charged that two members of the selection panel had a conflict of interest by knowing one of the candidates.

However, the tie vote means the panel has to start over again to find a leader of the school.

McCarrier said the 5-5 vote Friday rendered the conflict-of-interest accusation moot.

The board was trying to send two names to the state Board of Governors, from which that board would select SRU's next president.

A tie vote is equal to a rejection by the trustees regarding the recommendation.

McCarrier said the whole process to find a new president will start over again because of the vote.

He said the State System of Higher Education stated that no conflict of interest existed when Amir Mohammadi, SRU's vice president for finance, administration and advancement service became a candidate.

Taylor pointed to a potential conflict of interest of two members of the panel — Molly Mercer and Scott Albert. Both are administrators whose immediate superior is Mohammadi.

“(Mercer and Albert) called PASSHE and were told they could remain on the committee because no conflict of interest existed,” McCarrier said.

He added that Mercer and Albert have an excellent reputation and would have voted for any candidates on merit.

“All they care about is Slippery Rock University,” McCarrier said.

Taylor had asked McCarrier to suspend the search until the possible conflict could be investigated.

“I respectfully request that you withhold any decisions ... given the significant breach of integrity that has occurred,” reads Taylor's letter, in part. “The decisions premised upon these conflicts-of-interest demand that the current conflict be remedied and a new process for search and selection occur ...”

Taylor says that both Mercer and Albert failed to disclose their professional relationship with Mohammadi.

Mohammadi, in addition to being Mercer and Albert's immediate superior at SRU, is also one of three finalists in the university's presidential search process.

Taylor, in his letter, claims that Mohammadi's professional relationship with Mercer and Albert may have helped his application during the search committee's vetting process, when it would have been compared against more than 65 other applicants in a nationwide process that cost more than $100,000.

“It is a clear conflict-of-interest insinuating possible personal gain for them,” reads Taylor's four page letter, in part.

Taylor went on to call Mercer and Albert's positions on the committee “a significant violation of the integrity of the search process,” and something that “eliminates the necessary objectivity of the process.”

Both Mercer and Albert were appointed to their positions on the search committee by SRU's council of trustees, according to information on the school's website. Mercer was appointed as the sole university executive member of the group, while Albert served as one of three at-large members appointed by the trustees.

Taylor also sent copies of the letter to Gov. Tom Wolf, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission, saying he wanted them to weigh in on whether the university has any legal obligation or liability under the Pennsylvania Ethics Act.

“The matter at Slippery Rock University is certainly a perceived conflict-of-interest,” Taylor's letter reads, in part. “We must rely on their expertise to make any legal determinations they consider appropriate under their authorities.”

Eagle Staff Writer Paula Grubbs contributed to this report.