Northwest Missouri State University officials are only two months away from announcing their next president, but they’re still taking applications.

Atlanta-based Jon McRae & Associates Inc., an executive search firm, is assisting a 13-member committee in the search for a replacement for Dr. Dean Hubbard, who will retire in July after 25 years at Northwest.

Bill Loch, president of Northwest’s board of regents and chairman of the search committee, wouldn’t divulge how many resumes the search firm has received, but said he was surprised at the number, given the economic climate.

“I felt there might be less applicants,” he said.

The committee hasn’t narrowed the pool of applicants, nor has it released a description of what it’s looking for in a new president. Mr. Loch said committee members would have more to announce after their March 20 meeting.

“The diamond in the rough out there — that’s what we’re trying to find,” Mr. Loch said.

Kenny Daugherty, an associate with the search firm, is working with the committee. He said the committee is willing to look at nontraditional leadership. He said it is becoming more common for universities to choose lawyers as their chief executives,

like the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Benedictine College have done in recent years. The University of Missouri system picked Gary Forsee, former executive at Sprint, as its president.

The traditional course of a college president is to rise up through the ranks of academia.

“The track is changing,” Mr. Daugherty said. “You’re seeing more attorneys now.”

The search committee, made up of three members from the faculty, three regents, two alumni, two staff members, one person from Maryville, one student and one cabinet member, was formed in August. The committee hired the search firm in December. Mr. Loch said it will be paid a percentage, based on the new president’s salary.

Two years ago, Missouri Western State University paid $64,000 to R.H. Perry & Associates for its help in finding a new president.

Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com