The Kansas Board of Regents has approved members of the Emporia State Presidential Search Committee following a Wednesday board meeting over Zoom, a press release from the Regents announced Wednesday.

The committee is tasked with finding the university’s next president after ESU President Ken Hush announced his retirement in July.

Seven ESU faculty and staff members, 3 ESU students and 12 Emporia business and community leaders will sit on the committee alongside Search Committee Chair Jim Kessler, Regent Neelima Parasker and KBOR President and CEO Blake Flanders.

The committee includes former Kansas State Senator Jeff Longbine and Emporia Mayor Erren Harter.

The committee will provide an unranked list of the 5 most qualified candidates to KBOR, who the Regents will then consider as ESU’s next president. The search process and identities of candidates are confidential, the charge to the committee said.