The field of candidates vying to be Western Kentucky University’s next president is tightening as the university’s Presidential Search Committee sit down to interview candidates in private meetings in Nashville on Thursday and Friday. 

“We will be meeting with individuals who are candidates for that position, and this will be our first face-to-face encounter with this particular group of people,” said Phillip Bale, who chairs the search committee. 

All told, Bale said the committee will be interviewing seven candidates in meetings taking place in the Nashville Airport Marriott hotel’s Knoxville Room. Bale described the group as highly qualified and diverse and said that some of the candidates have a history with WKU. The committee’s been searching for a new president since President Gary Ransdell announced plans to retire next year after 20 years with the university. 

As for the interview process, Bale said there will be staggered interviews set up so candidates don’t bump into one another or reveal their identities. 

“We’re trying to be very respectful to them as individuals and as candidates,” Bale said, stressing that how well the process is conducted ultimately reflects on WKU’s reputation. “We’re making judgments of them, and they’re making judgments of us … . We need to make a good impression just as they do.”

After the committee completes the interviews, Bale said the next step will be to compile an unranked list of candidates to present to WKU’s Board of Regents, which will ultimately make the call about who WKU’s next president will be. However, Bale said the search process still remains open to interested candidates. 

“If somebody totally great fell out of the sky we would consider them,” Bale said. 

Making the identities of the finalists public hinges upon whether their careers and institutions would be jeopardized, Bale said. 

“I think that would be ideal,” he said, referring to public finalists. 

Last month, committee members spent about three hours discussing candidates with representatives of its contracted executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. At the time, Bale said the number of candidates under serious consideration was in the “mid-teens.” He also said at the November meeting that the committee hoped to narrow the list to seven or eight semifinalists in the coming weeks. 

WKU anthropology professor Kate Hudepohl chairs the University Senate, a group of faculty that represents faculty interests. 

“I hope that the Board of Regents finds a way to incorporate campus input,” regarding finalists, Hudepohl said, especially input from faculty, students and staff.

The University Senate asked for the search process to remain open with respect to finalist candidates in a resolution it passed in October. The resolution went further, requesting the top three candidates be brought to campus and given the chance to share their views, plans and qualifications in a campus forum. It also asked the campus community be given the chance to provide input on the final choice. 

— Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.