West Liberty University President Steven Greiner is shown during a Nov. 12 press conference in which he announced his pending retirement. He will now remain at his post until at least September rather than retire over the summer as he had previously planned.

WEST LIBERTY – West Liberty University’s Presidential Search Committee is temporarily suspending its efforts in response to the COVID-19 crisis as school officials announced Monday that President Stephen Greiner will remain at his post until at least September rather than retire over the summer as he had previously planned.

“Due to the national emergency and the need for social distancing, online-only classes and travel restrictions, we regret that we cannot continue the search in a transparent and normal manner,” said Search Committee Chairman Rich Lucas, who also serves as chairman of WLU’s Board of Governors.

The four remaining candidates for the position have agreed to remain in the running and will visit campus at a later date, Lucas said. Candidate visits were already delayed once about two weeks ago and will now be pushed back further to August.

The four candidates include:

* Dr. Robert Colvin has spent 21 years in higher education, as a faculty member and administrator. He is vice provost for undergraduate education at Christopher Newport University, in Newport News, Va.

* Dr. Brian Crawford, an internal candidate, has worked at WLU for more than 20 years and serves as provost. He previously was acting president for three months in 2014 and is the former dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

* Dr. Joe Delap is provost and vice president for academic affairs at Athens State University in Alabama and a tenured professor.

* Dr. David Haney is a higher education consultant and former president of Centenary University in Hackettstown, N.J. Prior to that, he was a vice president and dean at Emory & Henry College, Emory, Va.

Lucas said Greiner, who announced in November he was retiring, will remain at his position past his planned departure in June.

“This is an unprecedented circumstance that we are making the best of,” Lucas said. “We are thankful for the cooperation of the candidates, President Greiner and our campus community. As the COVID-19 crisis subsides and things return to normal, the search committee will meet again and we will announce the rescheduled visits, agendas and updates. We will make sure that the campus community has an opportunity to meet all four candidates in person as we resume the process.”

After the candidates visit campus and meet with alumni, staff, students and faculty, the search committee with evaluate the campus interviews and offer their suggestions to the Board of Governors, which makes the final selection. The announcement on the final selection of West Liberty University’s 37th President is tentatively expected at the end of August.