U details next steps to hire athletics director by July 1

The University of Minnesota has hired a search firm to assist in hiring a new athletics director, a position the U aims to fill by July 1.

The university hired Turnkey Search, a New Jersey-based company that helped Georgetown University and the University of Michigan find their athletics directors, U President Eric Kaler said Wednesday.

Kaler also announced a 16-member search committee, which includes faculty, coaches, student athletes, business people and community members. The committee will assist with the search, identifying and interviewing semifinalist candidates.

"It's ultimately my decision, so I'm going to charge the committee to bring me a list of people that I should consider," Kaler told reporters. "I won't ask them for a rank ordered list because I don't want to be locked into one of them. But I'm certainly going to ask them for their recommendations and a view of the strengths and weaknesses of those finalists."

In August, Athletic Director Norwood Teague stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations.

Teague was hired in 2012, and had been identified by Atlanta-based Parker Executive Search. However, it was later revealed that Teague had been the subject of an investigation at his previous job at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The university will have a better vetting processes this time, Kaler said.

"Candidates do sign statements that say they are not party to a lawsuit, they're not under NCAA investigation. We'll trust, but verify that," he said. "We also will use some interview techniques that are a little more sophisticated, psychological interviews that tell you something about the candidate something more than you might see on paper. That's an increasingly common practice in high level hiring."

Since Teague's resignation, the department has been led by Interim Athletics Director Beth Goetz, who is a candidate for the permanent position.

Turnkey was selected through a competitive bidding process and will be paid a $150,000 flat fee, plus expenses, Kaler said.

The search committee will finalize a position description and then begin interviewing semifinalist candidates in six to eight weeks.

Asked about the salary for the new athletics director, Kaler said the median salary for the position in the Big Ten conference is $750,000. He said he hopes they can come in under that number.