The pool of Eastern presidential applicants will be whittled down to approximately eight candidates at today’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee.

The committee will meet in executive session to discuss the resumes and references of the remaining 15 applicants.

The pool started with 58 applications and was narrowed to 16 at the committee’s Jan. 31 meeting. Since then, one applicant has withdrawn.

The reference checks for the remaining candidates were divided among the 16 voting committee members for further research, said Robert Webb, chair of the committee and vice chair of the Board of Trustees. Some candidates had as many as six references to contact.

The resumes and references will be discussed today to continue narrowing the pool.

“Based on those reports, we will try to choose approximately eight candidates that we want to schedule for interviews,” Webb said.

The committee will refer to the presidential profile created earlier in the search process to decide which candidates are best suited for the job.

“We want to make it objective, but there comes a point when it becomes a subjective decision, as well,” Webb said. “To a certain extent you have to have a feel about what you think is the right characteristic of the applicant.”

Webb said he was happy with the number and quality of candidates.

“I think they’re particularly outstanding,” he said. “Both from their educational background and from the standpoint of their experience in higher education.”

Many of the applicants are connected to many publications, have been active in making presentations at conferences and have experience in higher education, Webb said.

“Many of them have responsible administrative experience in institutions of higher education across the country,” he said.

Off-campus interviews will be held with the remaining candidates Feb. 27 and 28, so long as the applicants are available.

The committee will interview four candidates each day for about two hours at a time.

Webb said the search is on schedule and he expects to present the final recommendations to the Board of Trustees to make a final decision in March.

President Lou Hencken is expected to retire in June.