CEDAR FALLS — After a three-month search process, the state Board of Regents has selected Chancellor Mark Nook from Montana State University as the 11th President of the University of Northern Iowa, according to a press release on Tuesday.

The two other candidates for the position were Neil Theobald, former president of Temple University and Jim Wohlpart, UNI’s provost and interim president.

Concerns plagued the search process after last year’s controversial hiring of University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld. The UI chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a sanction against the UI because of the regents’ conduct during the process. Governing boards such as the Board of Regents cannot be sanctioned.

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However, The Daily Iowan has previously reported that former UI administrator Gerhild Krapf filed a lawsuit against the regents arguing that five regents, including Regents President Bruce Rastetter, violated the Iowa Open Meeting Act by meeting privately with Harreld prior to selecting him as UI president.

Joe Gorton, the president of United Faculty, the UNI’s faculty union, expressed support for Nook’s appointment as UNI president and believes the national AAUP should consider lifting the UI sanction after the UNI, according to the press release.

Gorton said the search process adhered to AAUP guidelines and the decision was consistent with a survey of UNI professors and instructors. The UI chapter of the AAUP conducted a survey in 2015 to determine who people thought would best serve as the new UI president before Harreld’s selection, and 1.8 percent of faculty and 2.6 percent of others who responded chose Harreld.

“After all, the sanction was primarily intended for the Board as a way to encourage them to work in accordance with AAUP principles,” Gorton said. “This search process and the outcome achieved seem to demonstrate that we have achieved that goal.”