With the completion of candidate interviews Friday, NIU is another step closer to the appointment of a new provost by the projected July 1 deadline.

Provost Search Committee Co-chairman James Lankford said the search committee currently is waiting for reports from the various university groups who interviewed the five candidates during the last three weeks.

The recommendations by the groups should be submitted to the committee by Friday, when members will meet to discuss how they will rank the individual candidates, Lankford said.

In addition, the committee will decide whether NIU representatives will visit the universities of the four off-campus candidates which include John Gruber, of San Jose State University in California, Warren Phillips, of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County Campus, Mark Auburn, of the University of Arkansas in Little Rock and Kendall Baker, of Bowling Green University in Ohio. The fifth candidate is James Norris, dean of NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Lankford said the search committee will determine its choice for provost at its final meeting May 1. The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to NIU President John LaTourette who will make the final selection to be submitted to the Board of Regents for approval.

“We are hoping the final selection could be made by the end of the semester,” Lankford said, adding that the Regents might act on LaTourette’s recommendation at their May meeting.

The provost, who reports directly to the president, is the chief academic officer of the university, who is responsible for all academic programs, budgets and personnel.