The search for a new UW-Madison chancellor has officially begun.

The UW-Madison Search and Screen Committee met for the first time Friday to begin the process of selecting a replacement for Chancellor John Wiley, who announced his intent to step-down in late December.

“We would like to have a new chancellor in place by September 2008,” said Marsha Mailick Seltzer, a UW-Madison professor of social work and pediatrics and chair of the search committee.

UW System President Kevin Reilly charged the 23-member committee to conduct a nationwide search for a “diverse pool of outstanding, well-qualified candidates.”

From the applicant pool, the committee would select five finalists to meet with Reilly and a special UW System Board of Regents committee. The special committee would then make the final selection.

The committee acts as both a screening and search crew for candidates, so Reilly urged the committee members to “encourage people [they] know might be interested and qualified to get into the pool.”

Reilly said having diversity within the pool of candidates is important to better both the state and the university leadership. There is currently only one black male chancellor and one female chancellor across all of the UW System schools.

The committee members will hold open forums on campus in which students and colleagues can discuss with them the qualities they want in the next UW-Madison chancellor.

The committee is currently in the process of hiring a search firm to help screen the nominees, according to Seltzer.

“We want at the first stage to get as large a pool as possible,” Reilly said, adding the university requires the candidates be tenured members of the academic community.

The committee plans to review resumés as soon as the Regent Committee has approved the chancellor position description.

The names of finalists would be made public after the committee interviews them off campus to keep the process confidential.

Although the timeline to find a new chancellor is tight, Seltzer said she is optimistic the committee will be able to build a pool of highly qualified applicants.

“This is the most compressed search that I’ve ever been part of,” Seltzer said. “The chancellor of the UW-Madison is a good job.”

“I am sure there are many people around this country who have been waiting for John Wiley’s announcement.” Dennis Chaptman, a university Communications spokesperson, announced at the meeting his intent to make a website with information on how the search is evolving, including plans for the search and when open forums would be held.

Chaptman said the goal of the website is to “keep the campus community updated of those applying for the job.” Seltzer said she did not know when the next committee meeting would be, as the committee is just beginning to take nominations from third parties.