Search for vice chancellor for finance nears its conclusion

The University has identified four candidates for the position of vice chancellor of finance and administration, said executive vice chancellor and provost Bruce Carney.

Carney, who does not sit on the search committee but will make the final choice, said the committee has completed the first interview and will finish the others by the end of the month.

Bill McCoy, chairman of the search committee and former vice president for finance for the UNC system, said the process is going smoothly and an offer will likely be made within a few weeks.

“It shouldn’t take very long,” Carney said.

McCoy and Carney declined to name any of the candidates.

Carney said, in addition to offering the position to a candidate, the University will have to spend time on the negotiating table.

“I’m hoping they’re here by the fall,” he said.

Despite setting a date for retirement in June, Dick Mann, who has been vice chancellor for finance and administration since 2006, will stay in the position until the search committee finds his replacement.

Mann, who announced his retirement in January, said he would be willing to wait until November to leave.

“He was a Marine,” Carney said. “He knows duty.”

Mann’s planned retirement has been a factor in trying to find his replacement in a timely manner, McCoy said.

The vice chancellor for finance and administration sits on the University’s budget committee, which handles budget cuts and additions.

Mann said administrators who handle the budget have had to make tough decisions in light of the recent budget cuts, which amount to more than $100 million for the 2011-12 academic year.

He added that many of the previous cuts at the University have been made in management and support in an effort to protect UNC’s academic mission.

“We tried to do it with the least damage on our academic programs we can stand,” Mann said.

The search committee began reviewing applications May 15.

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