The search committee for the new UNCW chancellor announced the search firm candidates after a conference call meeting Monday, Nov. 15.

The four search firms that are being considered are Parker Executive Search, Hodge Partners Executive & Board Search, Storbeck/Pimentel Executive Search Consultants and The McAulay Firm, Excellence in Executive Search. The four firms will be asked to participate in phone interviews Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Two interviews will be held per day via conference call from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

“We chose to interview all four because that’s a good number, and the proposals were all the same,” said Wendy Murphy, Board of Trustees and search committee chair.

The subcommittee in charge of appointing the search firm includes Murpy, Sandy McNeil, Estell Lee Harrelson, Terry Coffey, Bruce McKinney, George Teague, Michael Shiver and Charles Evans. Ann Lemmon, associate vice president for human resources for the UNC system and Max Allen, secretary to the search committee also participated in Monday’s meeting.

According to Lemmon, the job of the search firm is to assist with scheduling, reimbursing, background and reference checks, act as the main contact between the search committee and the candidates, and to recruit candidates.

“Our main concern and our main question to the firms will be, ‘Do they understand UNCW?'” Murphy said.