The MSU Board of Trustees held a four-hour closed meeting Thursday as part of its first official presidential-search talks.

The meeting followed the announcement that MSU President M. Peter McPherson will leave the university on Jan. 1. Board members likely will select his successor during the next seven months.

The trustees were briefed on a variety of issues on Thursday, Trustee David Porteous said.

"There's an extraordinary amount of material," he said. "We now need to have some time to further assimilate."

The board will have its next meeting on June 18 and Porteous would not comment if any votes will take place regarding the presidential process then.

"At this point, it would be premature to say what our process will be," he said. "This is a step-by-step process."

For more on this story, check out Monday's edition of The State News.