http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061107/NEWS/611070373/1001/NEWS

Meredith defends search process
Commissioner calls presidential selection confidential, transparent

Higher Education Commissioner Thomas C. Meredith says a confidential search for new university presidents protects those seeking the jobs and improves the field of candidates....

..."I've gotten a lot of credit for being the one that pushed (this method) on the board and forced it on the state of Mississippi," he said. "That's not the case."...

..."All of those things put together led to this fairly new process of keeping the names confidential," he said. "If you're a president looking for another presidency then you put yourself in jeopardy. That's what has driven ... keeping the names confidential, keeping the process transparent."

However, the board's first time to use this confidential method ended with a retired Air Force general, Dr. Robert "Doc" Foglesong, rather than a sitting president, to replace former MSU President Charles Lee....