The Department of Residence still does not have a permanent director and probably won’t until January.

Todd Holcomb, associate vice president for student affairs, assumed directorial duties until a permanent replacement can be found. He is working to assemble a search committee to find a new director.

The former Department of Residence director, Randy Alexander, resigned in July. Later that month, John Shertzer, residence life coordinator, also resigned.

According to Daily staff reports, Alexander left for other opportunities and Shertzer left to pursue a job opportunity at the University of Maryland.

Holcomb said he anticipates a search committee will be formed by Friday. The committee will have 10 to 12 members, including both students and faculty.

Holcomb, who will be chairman of the search committee, said he wants to fill the position with a person “who wants to build relationships with students” and who is “student focused.”

“I think this is going to be a very desirable position [for candidates] across the country,” Holcomb said.

Holcomb said he does not anticipate any difficulties in finding qualified candidates.

Once the committee finds a suitable candidate, it will make a recommendation to Thomas Hill, vice president for student affairs, who has hiring authority.

Hill said he was optimistic about finding a qualified individual to fill the director position.

“Iowa State is a unique campus,” he said. “There needs to be a good fit. I feel very confident that we’ll get a good person.”

Hill said the residence department’s budget is a major problem the new director will have to address.

“We’ve got to get the budget challenges taken care of,” he said. “We’ve got a decline in the enrollment, which has affected the occupancy rates, which has affected the revenue.”

The new director will also have to re-evaluate the Department of Residence Master Plan, created in 1997 during Alexander’s term.

“We were assuming back in ’97,” Hill said of the predictions made during the making of the Master Plan. “We’re into reality now.”

Drew Larson, president of the Inter-Residence Hall Association said housing costs and the realization that many students have chosen not to live in university housing will be issues for the new director.

“The biggest issue is occupancy,” said Larson, a Richardson Court Association resident. “It decides how expensive our rooms are going to be.”

Larson will help select students to serve on the committee. He said students on the committee should be familiar with university housing.