The Board of Trustees has hired reinforcements to aid in its national chancellor search. 

According to a release to the University community from Board Chairman Stephen R. Tritch, Pitt has contracted Storbeck Pimentel & Associates, an executive firm that specializes in employee searches for colleges and universities. Carnegie Mellon University recently employed the firm during its presidential search. 

In June, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg announced his plans to step down from his current position in August 2014. The Board has since appointed its vice chairwoman, Eva Blum, as chair of the Search Committee, and Provost Emeritus James Maher will act as vice chair of the committee. 

Tritch said that “while the ultimate responsibility lies with the Board of Trustees,” Storbeck Pimentel’s work will lay a foundation for the Search Committee members to “get to work immediately” once selected. Elections to fill the committee’s faculty positions are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks. 

The firm has conducted more than 1,800 executive-level searches for higher education institutions over the last 20 years, according to the release.

The Board’s search comes at a time when 13 other universities, including the University of Michigan and Ohio State, are searching for new leaders.

The Board has also authorized the development of a website devoted to disseminating information to prospective candidates related to the search, the University and the position. Development is currently underway, according to Tritch.

The Board plans to host open forums in late September or early October on campus, as well as on regional campuses, to provide faculty, staff and students with the opportunity to voice their input on the search. 

While open forums will be conducted during the initial phase of the process, Tritch said that much of the final stages of the search will occur in private to protect the confidentiality of the candidates.

“There may be periods of seeming inactivity in the months ahead, but you have my assurance that bringing the search for a new chancellor to a deliberate, swift and successful conclusion will be the No. 1 priority of the Board of Trustees,” he said.