The Presidential Search Advisory Committee met Oct. 27 to review applicants for the position of president of Coastal Carolina University. There are approximately 80 candidates in the pool.

According to advisory committee chairman Fred DuBard, "The candidate pool for the second president of Coastal Carolina University is truly national in scope and represents tremendous depth and breath of experiences."

The advisory committee's next step is to conduct off-site interviews with 10 to 13 candidates in early November. Following these interviews, on-campus visits will be extended to a smaller group in early December. A new president is expected to be named by the board of trustees in early 2007. President Ronald R. Ingle will retire June 30, 2007.

The advisory committee is a group of 12 persons representing a broad base of campus constituencies. The committee reviews applications, interviews candidates and identifies those to be interviewed by Coastal's board of trustees. The board and the advisory committee are assisted by the search firm Greenwood and Associates Inc. of Miramar Beach, Fla.

The members of the advisory committee are: William H. Alford, Fred F. DuBard Jr. and Samuel H. Frink, representing the board of trustees; Larry Biddle, representing the Coastal Educational Foundation; Julie Snowden, representing the Horry County Higher Education Commission; Dave Evans, representing CCU's Faculty Senate; Sharon Thompson, representing the Coastal faculty; Robert Shelton, representing the CCU Alumni Association; Janet Shokal, a Coastal student and president of the Student Government Association; Danny Nicholson, representing the Coastal administration; and Charles Hodge, chair of the board of trustees. Oran Smith, a trustee who chairs the academic affairs committee, serves as a nonvoting adviser.

Visit the Web site www.coastal.edu/presidentialsearch for up-to-date information on the search activities.