The search for a permanent president at Gordon College has begun.

A Special Regents’ Search Committee of the University System of Georgia (USG) on Monday charged a Gordon College Presidential Search and Screen Committee with a number of first steps in determining a permanent replacement for current interim President Shelley Nickel.

The nine-member, campus-based committee is supposed to develop a position description, place announcements in national media, conduct off- and on-campus interviews and then recommend three to five unranked candidates to the Special Regents’ Search Committee.

The nine members of the Gordon committee, which is chaired by history professor Donald Butts, met on Monday and started working on a job description.

After that description has been published in a number of education-related media, such as the Chronicle of Higher Education, the committee will interview a first group of candidates at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, said Butts.

“We will narrow it down to a number of candidates,” said Butts, adding that a final group of applicants will then be invited to campus for interviews.

Once the Special Regents’ Search Committee, which is headed by regent Jim Jolly, has received Gordon’s candidates, it will recommend finalists to USG Chancellor Erroll Davis, who will then propose one candidate to the full Board of Regents.

“The hope is that we will have a new president in place for the new fiscal year at the latest,” said Butts, adding that a yet-to-be-named Web site will soon be set up to keep the public informed on the presidential search process.

“It’s a lot of work,” said Butts about the responsibilities of the campus-based committee, “but it’s very exciting because we are choosing the next leader of the college.”