This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The final four candidates in the running for president of Utah State University were announced Wednesday by the Utah System of Higher Education.
The mostly out-of-state slate includes Montana Tech Chancellor Don Blackketter, Utah State University Provost Noelle Cockett, Boise State University Research and Economic Development Vice President Mark Rudin, and Keith Miller, Virginia State University's president from 2010 to 2014.
Finalists were selected from a pool of roughly 40 applicants by a 25-member search committee composed of representatives from the Utah Board of Regents as well as USU's board of trustees, faculty, students and alumni.
"The Utah State University Presidential Search Committee has narrowed down the applicant pool to these four highly qualified candidates after an exhaustive search," said regent and search committee chairwoman Teresa Theurer, "and is honored to recommend them to the Board of Regents for their consideration in selecting a new leader for USU."
USU's next president will succeed Stan Albrecht, who announced in February his decision to retire after 11 years in the position.
During Albrecht's tenure, the Logan-based research university absorbed the College of Eastern Utah — renamed as USU Eastern — and developed a partnership with NASA through the school's Space Dynamics Lab.
More recently, USU has been criticized for its handling of a series of sexual-assault allegations involving students.
Last week, campus administrators announced the creation of several working groups aimed at preventing sexual violence. And the school on Monday announced it has received a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women, which will be used to hire an additional counselor and develop law enforcement training.
USU is the state's fourth-largest school, with 28,118 students throughout its network of campuses and online programs, according to the most recent enrollment data from the Utah System of Higher Education.
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