Here’s what happens next in USF’s search for a new president

After advancing two candidates to be the University of South Florida’s next president, school officials have invited them for campus visits and another round of interviews later this month.

Interim USF president Rhea Law and Jeffrey Talley, who once led the U.S. Army Reserve, will separately visit the university’s three campuses on March 21. Their schedule that day will include town hall sessions, giving the public an opportunity to ask questions.

Law will visit the Sarasota-Manatee campus from 9 to 10 a.m., appearing in Selby Auditorium. From there, she travels to the St. Petersburg campus for a town hall session from 11 a.m. to noon in the University Student Center Ballroom. She will end her day on the Tampa campus, where she will appear from 2 to 3 p.m. in Traditions Hall at the Gibbons Alumni Center.

Meanwhile, Talley will start that day with a town hall from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Gibbons Alumni Center. That will be followed by a visit to Selby Auditorium on the Sarasota-Manatee campus from 11 a.m. to noon, followed by a similar event at the University Student Center on the St. Petersburg campus from 2 to 3 p.m.

The university’s presidential search committee interviewed Law and Talley on Friday before voting to advance both to the next phase of the process. In addition to his tenure leading the Army Reserve, Talley has a background in academia and the private sector. Law, a prominent Tampa attorney, was appointed to lead the university on an interim basis last summer after former USF president Steve Currall stepped down.

On March 22, the day after their campus tours, the two will be interviewed by the USF board of trustees. The board could then choose one of them to be the next president or decide to continue the search. The person chosen for the position must be confirmed by the state Board of Governors, which meets March 29-30.

Members of the public may submit questions here for the candidates to be asked at the town hall meetings. People also will be able to ask questions in person. The public is invited to provide their feedback at the USF Presidential Search website following the sessions, which will be reviewed before the board interviews.