The search committee hopes to retain the services of John Kuhnle with Korn/Ferry International to assist in the search for USC's next president.

"They [Korn/Ferry] have a niche in identifying and vetting candidates who are capable of running a major research university," said William Hubbard, a USC trustee and chair of the search committee. "They'll use their networks to help us create a deeper and wider pool of candidates and also validate the credentials on resumes and perform other background checks."

Korn/Ferry was used in recent successful presidential searches at Indiana, Ohio State, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Vanderbilt, and the University of Virginia, among others. USC retained Korn/Ferry in the 1990-91 presidential search although they were not involved in President Palms' candidacy or subsequent appointment at USC. Palms is retiring June 1, 2002, from University service.

The committee already has begun the process of advertising the position in several media outlets, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The advertisement also will appear in several other publications, including Black Issues in Higher Education, National Association for Women in Higher Education, and online at several publications' Web sites. To save advertising costs, the University is running an abbreviated advertisement and directing those interested to a USC Web site that contains the ad's full text.

The University is considering using space in the vacant old observatory building beside Thornwell Annex to house candidate files. Members of the search committee would then have space for reviewing resumes on weekends and after hours.

Presidential Candidate Search Committee members