The university is launching a second phase of the search for a new Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, after an unsuccessful attempt last Spring Quarter.

The current interim SVCAA is biology professor Suresh Subramani, who has held the position since Paul Drake retired on Oct. 1. He will continue to hold the position until a permanent administrator is appointed, Surbamani said in an e-mail.

Though the search for a replacement first began last spring, the university could not fill the position due to conflicts with compensation, music professor and search committee member Charles Curtis said.

Many candidates felt that the pay for the position was  not competitive. Although the exact salary offered for the position is unavailable, Drake was paid $294,416 in 2009.

The SVCAA is the second-ranked university administrator — below only Chancellor Marye Anne Fox — and is responsible for dealing with academic programs and personnel affairs.

“Obviously we want to move as quickly as we can, but there are just many steps and we want to do this very carefully,” Curtis said.

Curtis said the selection committee launched the new search at the beginning of Fall Quarter and has since looked at files of over 300 candidates across the country.

Though they have “substantially whittled down” the list potential candidates, exact details about candidates and numbers is confidential information, he said.

Members of the committee are dividing candidates into subgroups and each are given a set of applicants to look over and assess.

In Curtis’ subgroup, the initial pool of applicants included candidates from various educational institutions, including deans of law and professional schools.

Curtis said the committee considers academic contribution to be an important component of a potential candidate, in addition to administrative experience.

“The really important elements here is to find candidates who are also truly outstanding as scholars,” Curtis said. “We feel that the extraordinarily highly level of scholastic achievement here at UCSD has got to be reflective of the person who takes the position.”

UCSD spokesperson Christine Clark said in an e-mail that the search committee is seeking “a strong academic leader who is an accomplished scholar and academic administrator.”

The applicant must carry a record of success in strategic planning, budgeting, resource management and faculty recruiting while also having expertise in strengthening international collaborations, she said.

The search committee is co-chaired by Director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology Larry Smarr and Fox, and includes various UCSD faculty.

A target date for when the search will conclude has not been established.