STATE COLLEGE— Penn State trustees are set to formally begin the search for a new president against the backdrop of renewed scrutiny of university governance in light of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.

Trustees are scheduled today to wrap up two days of regularly-scheduled meetings with a full assembly of the board, during which they plan to vote on plans to search for President Rodney Erickson’s replacement.

Erickson took over the post a year ago to replace Graham Spanier, who departed under pressure the same day Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno was ousted in the fallout from the sweeping scandal. Erickson has said he intends to retire when his contract expires in June 2014.

The search process was initially supposed to start early next year, board chairwoman Karen Peetz said Thursday. But the timeline was accelerated and the process will officially start Friday because the potential pool of candidates is tighter than usual, and “there have been a lot of people out looking recently,” Peetz said.

“We’re giving it a little extra time because as we understand it the field for candidates is reduced,” she told The Associated Press after committee meetings Thursday.

She said she was optimistic the school could attract promising prospects in spite of the bevy of issues facing the institution because of the scandal, citing as an example the recent hiring of Stephen Dunham as general counsel from Johns Hopkins. The hope is to settle on Erickson’s replacement by next November.

Trustees began meeting Thursday in various committees, but did not take final action on any topics. If the process is approved Friday as expected, a trustees committee headed by Peetz will head the search.