Four candidates to become the next top Hawkeye will be interviewed by campus beginning next week, including hybrid online and in-person public forums scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on each candidate’s first of two visit days.

It’ll be another step of a search process to fill the University of Iowa presidency, which kicked off in October when President Bruce Harreld announced his retirement. Over the last few weeks, the search committee narrowed the number of finalists to 12 and then to four. The public will learn the names of each of the four candidates at 8 a.m. the day before they come to campus for a two-day visit. The finalist visit dates will begin next week, with the first candidate visit beginning April 12.

Just 40 tickets will be issued for campus members to attend the public forums — the only part of the search open to the public — in person because of COVID-19 restrictions on indoor events. Eight tickets will be allotted on a first-come-first-serve basis to five sectors of the UI: faculty, staff, undergraduate students, graduate and professional students, and community members.

The UI will also stream the forums online, and people can submit questions for the potential presidents. Campus members can also submit feedback via an online form before April 27.

The visit dates will be:

• Candidate 1: April 12-13
• Candidate 2: April 15-16
• Candidate 3: April 19-20
• Candidate 4: April 22-23

Harreld’s last day on the job will be May 16, and an interim president will fill in between the time the next president is named April 30, and their start date — likely in the late summer or fall. The state Board of Regents tapped Graduate College Dean John Keller for the interim spot.

In next steps for the presidential search:

• April 27: Deadline for campus feedback, which can be submitted online
• April 28: Search committee meeting on finalists
• April 29—30: Committee meets with Board of Regents/Board interviews finalists
• April 30: Board of Regents selects new president

In addition to the campus forum, each candidate’s schedule includes two days full of closed meetings with stakeholders across campus, including

• UI health care leadership
• athletics leadership
• president’s cabinet
• council of deans
• Center for Advancement
• Vice President for Research Office leadership
• Faculty Senate and Council
• Undergraduate and Graduate and Professional Student Government
• UI Staff Council, AFSCME and SEIU leaders
• Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Diversity Council leadership
• Division of Student Life leadership
• Finance and university budget leaders
• President’s Office staff
• Board of Regents executive director