Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Hank M. Bounds announced today the timeline for the presidential searches for Alcorn State University, Jackson State University and the Mississippi University for Women. Campus listening sessions will be held with constituency groups for the Alcorn State University and Jackson State University searches in late August and early September, respectively. The discussions will center on the qualities and qualifications stakeholders believe the next institutional executive officers should possess.  The Mississippi University for Women's presidential search will begin early in 2011.

"The Board believes using rolling starts for all three searches will allow the Board to focus on the needs of each university and select the best candidate," said Dr. Bounds. 

The Campus Listening Sessions will be held on the Alcorn State University campus in Lorman on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, and on the Jackson State University campus in Jackson on Thursday, September 2, 2010. Videoconferencing will allow Alcorn State University's Natchez Campus to participate. The sessions begin at 7:30 a.m. and conclude at 3:45 p.m. While all sessions are open to the public, each session focuses on the needs of a specific constituency group.

*Webcast sessions

At Alcorn State University, all sessions will be held in the Clinton Bristow Jr. Dining Hall on the Lorman Campus. At Jackson State University, all sessions will be held in the JSU Student Center on the Jackson Campus.

Applicants for the presidencies of Alcorn and Jackson State may apply until September 15, 2010, for best consideration. For more information on the application process, visit the Ayers & Associates, Inc., Web site at ayersandassociatesinc.com.

Following the best consideration deadline, Campus Search Advisory Committees will submit no fewer than five candidates unranked to the Board Search Committees and select the Interview Search Advisory Committees. The Board will select the candidates to be interviewed.

The candidates for president of Alcorn State University and Jackson State University will be interviewed later this fall, with campus visits by the preferred candidates to follow.

For more information and to track progress on the presidential searches, visit the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning's Web site at mississippi.edu/ieo