The four finalists for the Iowa State presidency have been named and the public had an hour to hear from and ask questions to each of the candidates. If you didn’t have a chance to hear from all of the candidates, a livestream of each open forum is now available on the presidential search website.

Resumes and curricula vitarum for each candidate are also available on the presidential search website. These documents explain the qualifications and past experiences of each candidate and should be evaluated thoroughly.

On that same website, feedback forms are available so that all members of the public have the option to give input to not only the search committee, but the Board of Regents who will ultimately vote on who will be the 16th president of Iowa State.

This is the only remaining opportunity for students and staff to have their voices heard on who will be the next president of the university. The Editorial Board would like to stress this point as we feel it is important for the staff and student body of the university to have ample input into the matter. The deadline for submitting the forms is noon on Monday, Oct. 16.

Community members need to seize the opportunity to provide feedback and show the Board of Regents that an engaged community is an important part in the decision-making process of selecting a president for a state institution. We hope that the Board of Regents recognized its grave mistake in not being transparent with the last University of Iowa presidential search and that the process is made even more transparent the next time around.

On next Wednesday, the Editorial Board will be publishing its endorsement of one candidate along with an explanation about how we came to the decision.