Upon ISU President Al Bowman’s announcement of retirement, the Board of Trustees was asked to convene at a special meeting to begin the process of finding a replacement for his position.

According to Board of Trustees Chairperson Michael McCuskey, the board is in charge of one ISU employee — the president.

“In the past, Bowman has signed three three-year contracts,” McCuskey said. “I negotiated a four-year contract this October and he signed it. Now that contract has gone straight down the drain due to Bowman’s retirement announcement.”

McCuskey wished for Bowman to stay another four years, and said “it was a sad day for the university.”

“We expected him to serve a total of 14 to 15 years, no one wants him to leave. But we all live in our own skin and know our own health,” he added.

The next step McCuskey and the board are focusing on is the process of finding a Bowman replacement.

The meeting to begin the president search will be following graduation on Dec. 15. President Bowman and many board members are available and in town around the graduation ceremonies each semester.

“None of the board members have experience in a presidential search,” he explained. “We need to plow this new ground. This is all new to us.”

The board plans to look in archives and find how the search was done in the past; however, there are no set steps in finding the perfect president for ISU.

“There is nothing that says, ‘this is what you do when the president decides to leave,’” McCuskey said.

“We want to find someone with Bowman’s same personality and someone who works half as hard as he does,” he added. “No one can possibly work as hard as he does. We have never seen anyone with as much talent as he has.”

During the day of the retirement announcement, McCuskey’s email box filled with questions about the “real reason President Bowman is retiring.”

“I want to make it clear that this is Bowman’s decision, only he knows his own health and what’s best for him at the time,” he added.

After the December meeting with the president and board, the replacement process will begin in the spring semester.

The board and McCuskey hope to have someone selected by the summer so the new president can get to know the ISU community by the fall.