Tusculum College is continuing its search for the person who will become the college's next president.

The college announced in late March that it had narrowed the field to three finalists in what was its second presidential search process within a year.

However, two of the three latest candidates have withdrawn, and the third was not accepted by Tusculum's board of trustees.

This was announced by Dr. Ken Bowman, chairman of the board of trustees, in an interview Saturday following board of trustees' meetings on Friday and Saturday.

Bowman said of the three previous presidential candidates:

* Dr. Steve Jones, chancellor of the University of Alaska, had withdrawn from consideration after accepting an offer to head Urbana University in Urbana, Ohio.

* Dr. Michael Looney, provost and vice-president for academic affairs at Schreiner University, which is 60 miles from San Antonio, Texas, had withdrawn from consideration "for personal reasons."

* Richard "Rick" Brewer Jr., vice president of planning and student affairs at Charleston Southern University in Charleston, S.C., is "no longer being considered" to be Tusculum College's president.

In recent weeks each of those three candidates made separate two-day visits to Tusculum College, where they had a variety of interviews.

Tusculum College continues to be led by Dr. Russell Nichols, its interim president since last summer following the sudden departure in May 2007 of Dr. Dolphus Henry, the college's president for seven years.

Nichols said in late April that it was hoped that, after the three finalists had visited Tusculum, its Presidential Search Committee would be able to recommend one of the candidates to the college's board of trustees, which has the responsibility to select who will become Tusculum's next president.

Nichols said then that, if that timetable were met, college officials hoped that Tusculum's next president would be on duty by the time the college's 2008-09 academic year begins in August.

However, now it is clear that tentative timetable won't be met, and the Presidential Search Committee must resume a process that began nearly one year ago. Jon McRae & Associates, an Atlanta consulting firm, has been assisting in the process.

Bowman said in Saturday's interview that the situation is not a crisis for the college, in that, with Dr. Nichols, Tusculum has a very well regarded interim president.

During the interview, in which Nichols and Dr. Edward Kormondy, the board of trustees' vice chairman, also participated, Nichols indicated that he is willing to continue, at least for a time, as Tusculum College's interim president.

Nichols, who retired after a successful 20-year career at Hanover College in southern Indiana, declined to specify how much longer he may be willing to remain as Tusculum college's interim president.

He said that is something he must discuss with his wife, who never moved here but continues to reside with other family members in Indiana.

Dr. Kormondy, a retired adminstrator at several universities, said that he and Dr. Angelo Volpe, another former college president who serves on Tusculum College's board, both have said they would be willing, if necessary, to serve brief periods as Tusculum's president.

They each did so last summer during separate periods after Henry left Tusculum and before Nichols arrived.

That would be a possibility, Kormondy indicated, if Nichols should leave Tusculum before the arrival of the college's next president, whoever he or she may be.

Tusculum College has been without a permanent president since Dr. Henry suddenly departed at the end of a board of trustees meeting a year ago, after the trustees informed Henry his services were no longer desired.

The college did not announce Henry's sudden exit until two days later, and then did so without publicly explaining what had happened.

Dr. Henry formally resigned last July after negotiating a settlement of his contract with the college. He had served as the college's president since 2000.

Tusculum College's Search Committee announced this winter that it had narrowed its search for a president to two candidates.

They were Dr. Craig Turner, president of Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, and Dr. J. Patrick Raines, dean of Belmont University's College of Business Administration in Nashville.

However, Turner suddenly withdrew from consideration after having indicated to Bowman that he was about to accept the Tusculum presidency. Instead, Turner accepted the presidency of Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C.

Turner notified Tusculum only through an e-mail, not mentioning that he, instead, was going to Catawba, an athletic rival of Tusculum College.

Previously, Tusculum officials said, Turner had sought a delay in the public announcement, telling them he needed the delay to complete a project at his university in Texas.

Then, Dr. J. Patrick Raines, dean of Belmont University's College of Business Administration in Nashville, also withdrew from consideration.

He did so after Tusculum had publicly indicated that Raines had been the college's second choice after Turner.