Lincoln University has initiated the first step in finding a new president.
LU's Board of Curators met Monday to approve a request for proposals to solicit bids from search firms. A firm will be chosen to do the work of finding applicants for the university's president and vice president of academic affairs and provost positions.
The university is looking for a new president after former LU President Jerald Jones Woolfolk announced her resignation in May. John Moseley is serving as interim president until the position is filled permanently.
"We've got an RFP done, and it'll be hitting the streets come Wednesday," Board of Curators President Victor Pasley said.
The request will be sent to eight firms. Curator Everidge Cade Jr., a member of the executive search committee, said this is two additional firms from the last time LU conducted a search in 2017. That search received four bids from various firms.
Pasley told other board members if there were additional firms they would like to send the RFP to, they should contact the Board of Curators secretary.
The board approved three amendments to the RFP before finalizing the document - changing the issue date from June 14 to June 16, increasing the number of bid copies provided by prospective bidders from two to four, and moving the proposal return date up from July 30 to 2 p.m. July 29.
The additional bid copies are required because Curator Richard Callahan joined the search committee, Cade said. The bids will be reviewed exclusively by the executive search committee made up of Board of Curators members.
Cade said the university is looking for a firm with relevant experience conducting academic executive searches. This search firm should provide applicants who can meet the rigorous demands of LU, he said.
"We're going to compare and, obviously, we want the lowest and best possible bid, so we'll probably make an assessment at that time," Cade said.