By the time the board of regents meets again in late January, their search for a new State Technical College of Missouri president could be underway.
During a closed session last Friday, the regents voted "to authorize the president of the board (banker John Klebba), with guidance from legal counsel, to negotiate a contract with a search firm," outgoing President Donald Claycomb told the News Tribune Monday.
That vote followed a presentation by Gold Hill Associates of Jackson, Mississippi, the second search company to make an in-person explanation of how they would conduct the Linn-based school's search for Claycomb's successor.
The Pauly Group of Springfield, Illinois, made its presentation June 26.
A third firm, R.H. Perry and Associates, originally expressed an interest in being hired, but didn't come to Linn for a presentation.
Claycomb did not say whether the board had a preference for the Illinois or Mississippi company, saying only, "They have one they're going to start with."
Under Missouri's Sunshine Law, the board is not required to disclose "any documents related to a negotiated contract until a contract is executed, or all proposals are rejected."
Claycomb - who has been the school's president since 1993 - is retiring June 30.
A search firm would supervise the applications process and narrow the list of candidates.
State Tech's regents must make the final hiring decision.
The board on Friday also approved two resolutions, with one authorizing UMB Bank to issue $7.635 million in refunding bonds to pay off and refinance bonds issued in 2002 and 2006.
They had agreed in June to work with UMB on the refinancing project.
The resolution says the move is intended "to achieve certain economic savings and implement a unified plan of finance."
The regents' second resolution authorized a "Tax and Disclosure Compliance Procedure" for State Tech's financial obligations.
The resolution said the policy changes keep the school in line with federal Internal Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission requirements.
Claycomb said both resolutions could be considered as "housekeeping" actions, or "that come up on a routine that have to have board action."
Also during the closed session, the board added "director of facilities" to Dean of Information Technology Don Lloyd's title and duties. They did not change his salary.