As of March 19, Northern Kentucky University is one step closer to choosing the next president. The Presidential Search and Screening Committee announced two out of the three finalists who will visit the campus within the next month.

Jonathan Gibralter, currently the president of Frostburg State University in Maryland, David Eisler from Ferris State University in Michigan, and a third candidate. The final candidate has not yet informed “his current employer of his participation in our search,” a campus-wide email said.

Martin Butler, chair of the screening committee, said the candidate is “already committed” and should be revealed by March 27.

Gibralter has served for over 25 years as a faculty member and administration in the higher education field. Since his time began at Frostburg in 2006 the email, sent on behalf of Butler, said Frostburg “has improved enrollment; renewed its focus on marketing, branding and raising the institution’s profile; and successfully completed a comprehensive campaign, ‘Staking Our Claim: The Campaign for Frostburg.’”

In Eisler’s eight years at Ferris State, the university “has experienced eight years of record enrollments and has been the fastest growing public university in Michigan.”
Before joining the higher administration field, Eisler was a music instructor and assistant fine arts dean. He also moved into the provost and vice president of academic affairs position at Weber State University in Utah.

In the upcoming weeks, all three finalists will make their way to NKU’s campus for two days each. During this time, they will each meet with students, faculty and staff and the community in separate forums.

The goal, according to Butler, is for the NKU community to meet and interact with the finalists and ultimately provide feedback to share with the Board of Regents, who will make the final decision.
Joseph Fons, student representative for the screening committee, said the student forums are important. According to Fons, the forums are where students can ask questions, talk about past experiences and talk about “what the students need now at the university.”

The student forums will take place at 3:25 p.m. in the Otto Budig Theater on March 25, April 2 and April 9.
Butler said he “feels good” about the process and the final candidates. He said any one of the finalists “will be able to lead the university to another level.”
Gibralter will visit the campus first on March 28 and 29. Eisler will attend on April 2 and 3 and the final candidate will be on campus on April 9 and 10.