The nationally-based search for a new associate vice president for Student Affairs (AVPSA) at Iowa State began in May.

The final steps of the process will begin Friday as the three chosen candidates begin campus visits for interviews and individual open forums.

Rebecca Sanderson of Oregon State University, Sharon George of Central Michigan University and Todd Holcomb, of Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, are the AVPSA finalists.

Registrar Kathleen Jones said the three candidates were chosen from 69 applicants.

“The broader candidate pool was quite strong,” said Jones, who is also the chair of the AVPSA search committee.

“Quite a number were very well-qualified,” she said.

The AVPSA is directly in charge of the Division of Student Affairs’ budget, human resources, assessment projects and strategic planning, according to the Division of Student Affairs Web site, www.iastate.edu/~saff/.

Sanderson is visiting through Friday and will be holding her forum from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.

Sanderson is currently the director and assistant professor of Student Affairs, Research and Evaluation at Oregon State University.

George, who served in Central Michigan University’s Office of Student Life for 25 years, will be speaking in an open forum from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Wed., Sept. 3, in the Campanile Room of the MU.

Holcomb, the current interim assistant vice president for Student Affairs at Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, will be speaking in an open forum from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, in the Gallery Room of the MU. The forums are open to the university community.

“We are hopeful that students will attend the open forums,” said Thomas Hill, vice president for Student Affairs. “[The AVPSA] works closely with students and on behalf of students, so students should try and get a good feel for them.”

The candidate forums were publicized to the university community by the Division of Student Affairs and to students through the Government of the Student Body, Jones said.

“We hope, given the level of this situation and the number of people that are touched by this, that there will be a good turnout,” Jones said. “[The AVPSA] is a very critical position [within the university].”

Candidates will also be meeting with special groups on campus and the AVPSA search committee for interview sessions.

Johnny Pickett, associate vice president for business and finance and a member of the AVPSA search committee, said the committee has had much say in the selection of the candidates.

“Everyone we recommended is being brought to campus,” Pickett said.

Jones said interested individuals will be able to give their input on candidates through evaluation forms available on the Student Affairs Web site. Forms are due by Sept. 10 to the Division of Student Affairs central office in 2350 Beardshear.

Hill said it is critical students get involved in the decision-making process by filling out evaluations.

Hill will make the final decision on the candidate by late September.

“The position reports directly to me and works very closely with me, so I feel very, very good about making the final decision,” Hill said.

Pickett also stressed the importance of the position of the AVPSA.

“This is the broadest constituency position,” Pickett said. “Virtually everyone in Student Affairs works with this person.”

The associate vice president position was previously held by Teresa Branch from 2000 through May 2003.

Branch left Iowa State when she was hired as vice president of Student Affairs at the University of Montana at Missoula.

Terry Mason, associate vice president of the Iowa State University Student Counseling Service was hired in early June to temporarily fill the position.