SPECIAL TO THE REPORTER

At least two additional candidates for the University of Montevallo presidency will be brought to the campus for visits following a decision Friday by the University&8217;s Board of Trustees to continue the presidential search.

The board had been expected to name a new president for the 109-year-old university Friday afternoon, but two of the three finalists withdrew their candidacies after accepting positions at other schools.

UM presidential candidates W. Sanborn Pfeiffer, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Ramapo College of New Jersey, was named president at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, and Janet McNew, provost and dean of the faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University, will become provost at the University of Tampa this summer.

Remaining under consideration for the Montevallo president&8217;s post is John S. Miller, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Eastern Oregon University in Le Grande. He visited the campus in late February.

Chair of the UM Board of Trustees George M. Walker, who also chairs the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, said he felt it is &8220;appropriate to instruct the committee to identify two more finalists to come down and interview. We want to reconstitute the final panel back to three. We will resume this board meeting when we have three from which to choose,&8221; he said.

&8220;I will charge the search advisory committee with the responsibility of choosing two or more candidates to join Dr. Miller in the field for consideration,&8221; said Walker. The Presidential Search Advisory Committee is expected to continue their deliberations next week.

&8220;Both Dr. Pfeiffer and Dr. McNew expressed remorse about not coming to Montevallo. They had the highest praise for their experiences here,&8221; Walker said