After eight months of meetings and interviews, Binghamton University’s Presidential Search Committee narrowed down the candidates for president to five nominees. During the next two weeks, these candidates will introduce themselves to the campus community.

The University first announced the final candidate selection process through B-Line and Dateline messages on Nov. 30, as well as through an update on the Search Committee’s website.

Though the committee informed the University that five candidates were selected, their names are not to be announced until one day before they visit campus.

“In our search, all five of our candidates have agreed to have their names and biographical information released prior to their on-campus visits, but we have assured them that the open session for the campus community will be camera-free and that no press interviews will be permitted,” said Kathryn Madigan, chair of the Presidential Search Committee.

According to Madigan, the decision to keep the open meeting camera-free came because it’s standard practice for presidential candidates to demand privacy to protect their current positions in academe.

But BU’s five candidates agreed to have their names released prior to their campus visit.

“While some candidates have withdrawn rather than have their names publicized, everyone on the Search Committee felt quite strongly that BU has a culture of collaboration and openness and that was something we needed to honor,” Madigan said.

According to Katie Howard, the undergraduate representative on the Search Committee, BU is handling the campus visits in a very open manner, which reflects the collaborate culture between students, staff and faculty on campus.

“Some other schools like Stony Brook University had completely closed campus visits,” said Howard, a junior majoring in political science. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t have that and we continued to keep our collaborative culture.”

Each candidate will attend an open meeting in Old Union Hall from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on the day of their campus visit. At the meeting, they will make a presentation to the audience and answer questions from the public.

The first meeting, with Gary Miller, was held today, and the next three candidates will arrive next week on Monday, Dec. 6, Wednesday, Dec. 8 and Friday, Dec. 10. The final candidate’s meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 13, the first day of finals week.

After the five candidates speak to the BU community, the top three will have their names sent to SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, who will then make her final recommendation to the SUNY Board of Trustees for approval.

According to Howard, after the campus visits, the role of the Search Committee will end, and the BU Council will be responsible for choosing the top three candidates to send to Zimpher. She said she is unsure of the timeline of the council’s decision.

According to a B-Line message, “the Search Committee requests feedback from faculty, administrators, students, staff and alumni as these campus visits progress over the next two weeks,” and will be posting an online survey so meeting attendees can share their reactions after each candidate visits.

To narrow their selection to the current five candidates, the Presidential Search Committee, working with GaleMerseth and Kate Barry from the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller, released a leadership statement and position profile. The committee also held open forums in May to hear what students and faculty wanted to see in their next president.