A national search for the director of the new Armstrong Student Center (ASC) will soon come to a close as the top candidates for the position wrap up their on-campus interviews next week.

The new student center is expected to open in January of 2014, and according to Scott Walter, assistant vice president of student affairs, there is plenty of work to be done before the center opens its doors.

According to Walter, the search process was a relatively standard procedure and consisted of a search committee made up of staff and students who sent out the job description across the country, had phone interviews for the first round of candidates, and finally invited four of the prospects to campus for the last round of interviews this week.

According to Walter, the new ASC director will wear many hats, and is expected to handle duties ranging from alumni relations to cultural programming.

“This has to be somebody who has strong presentation skills, is quick on their feet,” Walter said. “[He or she should be] a great critical thinker, and can think independently and use professional judgment,” Walter said.

A student-led group will help design the policies and procedures that will be implemented by the new ASC director. These new policies will be formulated based on discussion of what both students and staff want the student center to look like, as well as possible road trips to other schools in hopes of determining what has and has not worked for their student centers in the past, Walter said.

According to Walter, it would be ideal to find someone who has already had experience opening a new student center, but that the university would take the best candidate regardless of whether or not they came from inside or outside of Miami.

The new director will help shape the future of the student center, according to Walter.

“If you ask 50 people what the student center should be you’ll get 45 different answers,” Walter said.

That is why the policies are being developed in conjunction with a committee, so that the student center remains focused around student interests, Walter said.

Junior Mike Sullivan said he thinks the new director could bring in a fresh perspective.

“They’re coming in with a clean slate, and it sounds like the hiring process has been selective,” Sullivan said. “I’m anticipating great things on both a personal and organizational level.”