UNR President Marc Johnson listens to a question from the audience at the Free Speech and Tolerance event on Jan. 29.

UNR President Marc Johnson listens to a question from the audience at the Free Speech, Tolerance and Social Justice event on Jan. 29.
JJ Mazzucotelli // The Nevada Sagebrush

After nearly a year since University of Nevada, Reno’s President Marc Johnson announced that he would be stepping down, the university is about to have a new president. 

The four finalists, although still secret, will be subject to a series of interviews occurring on September 14 and 15. 

On Sept. 14, undergraduate students and graduate students will be able to attend a Zoom forum with candidate A at 3:00-3:45 and with candidate B at 4:00-4:45. On Sept. 15, the student forum for candidate C will occur at 3:00-3:45 and with candidate D at 4:00-4:45. 

The student forums will be hosted by ASUN President Dom Hall and GSA President Will Carrasco. 

There will also be an open forum for each candidate. Anyone from the community is allowed to attend, including alumni and students. 

On Sept. 14, the open forum for candidate A will be held through Zoom at 4:00-4:45 and the forum for candidate B will be held from 5:00-5:45. On Sept. 15, candidate C’s open forum will be held at 4:00-4:45, while candidate D’s forum will be at 5:00-5:45.

The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents will then choose UNR’s next president at a meeting occurring on Sept. 17 at 1 p.m.

Although the candidates are secret, some have publicly thrown their hats into the ring, including, most notably, previous Nevada governor Brian Sandoval. 

In a press release sent out early April, Sandoval shared he would be stepping down from his position as president of global gaming development at MGM Resorts to apply to become the next president of UNR. 

Kevin Carman, a current provost and executive vice president at the university, has also announced publicly that he was interested in becoming the next president. 

Johnson announced his decision to step down on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019 and shared that his last day would be on June 30, 2020. The presidential search was postponed in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, and Johnson’s contract with the university was extended to December 2020. 

He will begin as a faculty member in the College of Business in summer 2021.

Taylor Avery can be reached at tavery@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter at @travery98.