Now there are none

The two-and-a-half year search for a new University at Albany president unraveled over the last two months after all three finalists dropped out.

Barbara Couture, the last to drop out, withdrew her candidacy at the end of March. Couture, the senior vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, could not be reached for comment.

In February, the UAlbany Presidential Search Committee made three recommendations to the SUNY Board of Trustees and chancellor, who will make the final decision. Since all three candidates dropped out, SUNY has asked the search committee to make additional recommendations, said SUNY spokesman David Henehan.

The search committee is in the process of deliberating and will make recommendations to SUNY in the near future, said UAlbany spokesman Michael Parker.

A confidential source close to the search process told the Times Union that a decision will likely be made before the end of the semester, possibly within the next few weeks.

No one was able to give a clear reason why so many candidates are dropping out, or why the search process is taking so long.

The search restarted last year after 19 months of searching when UAlbany decided to hire another search firm, Parker Executive Search.

"We are keenly aware of the importance of this decision for the future of the university and expect to announce a final decision in the very near future," wrote John J. O'Connor, the vice chancellor and secretary of the university, on the presidential search Web site on March 19.

Beheruz N. Sethna, a finalist who dropped out in March, said it was an honor to be considered for the position, "Yet, the timing of a move is not right for me."

Sethna was the favorite candidate among many of the people involved in the search committee, a confidential source involved in the process said. Sethna said he will remain the president of the University of West Georgia.

The secretive search process has taken its toll on the UAlbany budget, costing the university at least $300,000, according to the TU. Kermit Hall, the last UAlbany president, made $280,000 a year.

Hall drowned in August 2006 at his vacation home in South Carolina.

After Hall's death, Susan Herbst, UAlbany's provost and vice president of academic affairs, took over as officer-in-charge until she left for a top administrative job in Georgia's public university system at the end of October 2007.

The SUNY Board of Trustees appointed Interim President George Philip to the position on Nov. 27, 2007.