The Presidential Search Committee met in a closed session Monday to continue narrowing down the number of candidates being considered for the next president of the University of Illinois. 

Members of the Urbana campus committee met at the Henry Administration Building and spoke with other committee members from the University’s Springfield and Chicago campuses through video conference.

Pam Strobel, co-chair of the committee, opened the meeting by thanking the committee for its continuous service to the University of Illinois.

Following roll call, the committee went into executive session, which lasted from 9:05 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. 

University spokesperson Thomas Hardy was unable to disclose the current number of candidates under consideration.

While the committee has not yet set a date for when it will forward its recommendations to the Board of Trustees for final approval, Douglas Beck, co-chair of the committee, estimated the committee will compile a list of its top picks by the end of November. 

Current president, Robert Easter will retire at the end of next year, and the new president will take effect on July 1, 2015.

Faraz can be reached at [email protected]