With MSU President M. Peter McPherson's announcement of his departure from the university on Jan. 1, the Board of Trustees will soon hunt for a successor.

McPherson is the longest serving MSU president in last 30 years. When McPherson began his presidency, MSU presidents served an average of seven and a half years.

"We haven't done a search for almost 12 years," Trustee Dolores Cook said. "The board needs to meet and decide what our next step will be. Like whether or not we're going to have a national search."

In the last search, the pool was limited to three national candidates and current MSU Provost Lou Anna Simon. McPherson was a late addition after a yearlong search

Cook explained only four trustees participated in the previous interviews. In addition, problems with keeping candidates' names confidential caused applicants to drop out of the race, and new candidates to be entered.

Cook said she expects all members to be involved. Only three of the eight trustees have participated in an MSU presidential search before: Cook, Dorothy Gonzales and Joel Ferguson.

"Right now we're in the information gathering stage," Cook said. "We need to talk with each other and look at other universities - to find out what the pitfalls were."

The interviews and candidates' names will remain confidential. In 1993, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the Open Meeting Act does not apply to university presidential searches.

"We need to have confidentiality to protect the candidates," she said. "If candidates are employed someplace else, it becomes a very dicey issue."

One candidate in 1993 lost his job because word spread of his candidacy.

The board likely will act quickly to narrow the candidate list in time for McPherson's departure. McPherson said he chose to make his announcement in May after careful consideration.

"I thought eight months was enough time to find a successor," he said.

The board also will be working on landing funding for the $1 billion Rare Isotope Accelerator project, or RIA, finalizing a move of the College of Human Medicine to Grand Rapids and balancing MSU's budget.

"I'm anxious to get this medical school agreement worked out if possible, and I want to make real progress on RIA," McPherson said. "Those are the two big things."

McPherson also has the option of consulting the university for a five-year period after he leaves.

"That's available, essentially, when I want to use it, but I expect to continue to have some role with RIA, even if I should go someplace else," he said.

In addition, McPherson said he hopes to have a small part in the new presidential search.

"(Trustee David) Porteous said he wanted to have me be involved, so I look forward to giving advice," he said.

McPherson said he doesn't have any candidates in mind for the position and wouldn't reveal his preferences, however, speculation has begun.

Simon said she wouldn't speculate if she would be interested in the position. She was one of the final four candidates before McPherson was elected president and served as interim president last year while McPherson worked in Iraq.

The Associated Press reported that Utah Valley State College President William Sederburg denied being a candidate, but would consider the position if asked.

Porteous said the presidential search is the highest priority for the board.

"Clearly, this is the most important responsibility that any board has - the successor to your (chief executive officer)," he said.

Porteous said even though a presidential search will be one more item on a full agenda, that's the nature of the university.

"There's always lots of issues," he said. "Clearly, this will be an incredibly busy year for the board, the university and president."