MUNCIE, Ind.- Three candidates with strong backgrounds and interests in campus policing will come to campus for interviews as Ball State University winds down a national search for a permanent director of public safety.

     A search committee chaired by Bryan Byers, criminal justice professor, reviewed credentials from more than 60 candidates. The finalists will meet with the search committee, officers and supervisors of the university police department, campus administrators, student leaders, and other campus groups during their visits. Each candidate will also appear before a public forum.

     The candidates, listed with their current employment, background, and in order of their on-campus appearances, are:

• Linda Stump, chief of police for the Purdue University Police Department in West Lafayette. Stump is a 17-year veteran of the department and served one year with the Indiana State Police. She holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and corrections from Ball State, along with a master's degree in higher education administration from Purdue. Her public forum will be held Oct. 8, 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m., L.A. Pittenger Student Center, room 303.
• Gene Burton, acting director of public safety at Ball State University. Burton is a 22-year veteran of the department and holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Ball State. A public forum with Burton will be held Oct. 10, 1:15 p.m.-2:15 p.m., L.A. Pittenger Student Center, room 303.
• T. Neil Moore, assistant professor in public and environmental affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne (IPFW). Moore began his career in 1975 as an Indiana State Excise Police officer and two years later joined the Fort Wayne Police Department. He retired after 20 years on the force, including nearly the last ten as chief of police. Before joining IPFW as an instructor in 1998, Moore spent ten months as the director of the Community Policing Institute in Fort Wayne. Moore holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice studies from Kent State University, a master's degree in public affairs from IPFW, and a doctorate in adult, higher and community education from Ball State. The public forum for Moore will be held Oct. 15, 8:15 a.m.-9:15 a.m., L.A. Pittenger Student Center, room 303.

     The search committee will review feedback from the interviews, then make recommendations to Randy Hyman, associate vice president for student services and dean of students, who supervises the public safety department.

     Hyman will consider the committee's recommendations, campus feedback, observations from the personal interviews he conducts with the candidates, and consultations with campus administrators before making the final decision. Hyman hopes to have the director in place as soon as possible, he said.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information on this story, contact Hyman at (765) 285-5343 or rhyman@bsu.edu.)