Penn State seeking input on next president

Pennsylvania State University this week is gathering input from faculty, staff and students on what they would like to see in the next president.

The first two sessions, which were lightly attended, were held Thursday on the University Park campus. Another will be held from 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. today, Friday, in Room 102, the Foster Auditorium, in the Paterno Library.

That session also will be streamed online to the branch campuses around the state, the university said. Other forums will be scheduled for the branch campuses.

President Rodney Erickson plans to leave by June 30, 2014 or earlier if a new president is selected.

The new president, the university's 18th, will be charged with leading the state's flagship university through continued difficulties as it tries to recover from the child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

In addition to presidential search committee members, employees from Isaacson, Miller – the firm aiding the university with the search – are attending the forums.

The presidential search website is: http://presidentialsearch.psu.edu. People can leave comments on the site. Comments also can be sent to PSUnominations@imsearch.com and PSUcomments@imsearch.com

Comments and suggestions from the site and emails go directly to the search firm, the university said.