The Casper College Board of Trustees vowed openness during the selection process of the finalists for the school's next president.

"We have a good track record of having open processes like we did with Walt (Nolte)," board chairman Charlie Robertson said Thursday.

The board accepted the resignation letter from Nolte, who arrived at the college in 2004.

It then voted to hire Gold Hill Associates of Asheville, N.C., to conduct the search to replace Nolte. The college hired Gold Hill during its search after former president LeRoy Strausner resigned, trustee Susan Miller said.

Robertson said the board didn't consider the debacle at the University of Wyoming last year with its closed process when it Robert Sternberg for its new president. Sternberg resigned after less than five months in the wake of administrative upheavals.

"The University of Wyoming, whatever their issues were, we haven't really considered that," Robertson said. "We just focused on what we need to do for a next president."

The college will pay about $35,000 for the base fee for the search, plus transportation and other costs to bring in candidates, trustee Susan Miller said. That's comparable to what it paid 10 years ago, she said.

Gold Hill representatives probably will come to the campus in late October or early November to meet with trustees, Miller said. A search committee will work on the goals for the college and craft a job description for the next president.

Gold Hill will begin advertising the search and collect resumes, and the committee will narrow the field to between three and six candidates, she said.

The names of the candidates will be made public, and the candidates will visit the campus for meetings in public sessions, Miller said.

"It's a courtship between both of us. We want them to like us as much as we like them."

The board of trustees hopes to select the new president by late February or early March, she said.

The search will be national, and the board will want a long-term commitment, Miller said. "We want someone to stay a long time."

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