The board of trustees voted unanimously to ink a deal with Academic Search, a Washington D.C.-based search firm, to select potential candidates for the Provost position at College of DuPage (COD).

The contract between both parties will not exceed $64,500.

The firm was selected from a pool of seven proposals that were submitted to the college after a legal notice for a Request for Proposal (RFP) was published in the Jan. 30 edition of the Daily Herald.

Academic Search was selected after scoring the highest evaluation mark ahead of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), Buffkin/Baker, DHR International Inc. (Chicago), DHR International Inc. (NY), Harvard Group International and the Association of Community College Trustees.

The college in February announced the vacancy of the Provost’s position. The move is a result of a major cabinet reorganization that will occur over the next few months at COD.  This senior management position is a merger of the positions of vice president of student affairs and vice president for academic affairs. The person hired will be the first provost in the more than 50-year history of the college.