Public forums for the executive director candidates for the newly-formed Iowa Public Radio are scheduled within the next week at all three Regent universities.

Cindy Browne, a Minnesota-based public broadcasting consultant, is visiting Iowa State on July 21 and John Stark, general manager of KNAU-FM, the public radio station at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz., is visiting on July 25.

Both forums will allow the public to question the candidates and both are scheduled for 11 a.m. in Studio B of the Communications Building.

Iowa Public Radio was formed from Iowa State’s WOI, the University of Iowa’s WSUI/KSUI and the University of Northern Iowa’s KUNI/KHKE, a process approved by the Iowa Board of Regents last December.

“The Iowa Public Radio project is very important to public radio nationwide, because it can establish a precedent for public radio stations across the country,” Stark said.

He said he does “not know of a parallel situation” to a consolidation in which three university public radio stations work together, and this lack of precedent is what interested him in the position.

Browne said she viewed the position as a way to expand her knowledge of public television to radio < she has consulted with public television stations in the past, which she said she enjoyed working with.

“Secondly, this is a unique opportunity and a unique situation, with three stations coming together under one organizational umbrella,” Browne said.

Both candidates have extensive experience with public broadcasting and encouraging broadcaster collaboration.

Starke said he is the founder and a board member of the University Station Alliance, which helps public radio stations collaborate with universities. Starke has worked several different positions at radio stations, including associate producer for National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” program in Washington, D.C. He said he has also worked in collaboration with various Native American broadcasters across Arizona.

Browne has previously worked as the executive vice president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds public broadcasters nationwide. As a consultant, she said she has assisted in a broadcaster consolidation in Michigan when a public radio station in Ann Arbor and a public television station in Flint consolidated into Michigan Public Media. Browne said she has also consulted for a similar consolidation in Houston between a public broadcaster and public radio.

ISU Vice President for Business and Finance Warren Madden, a member of the Iowa Public Radio Executive Council, said the five-member council would like to make a decision “fairly quickly,” although the time frame will depend on the results of the public forums.

“It’s a little hard to tell until we see how this goes, whether one individual emerges clearly,” he said.

Madden said the executive council, led by Carroll attorney Art Neu, is looking for traits such as fundraising ability, team building, Midwestern cultural competency, managing change and experience.

“This is really a chance to give people an opportunity to see the candidates,” he said.