Tony Atwater, associate vice president for academic affairs at the University of Toledo, will meet with administration, faculty, student leaders and other community members Monday and Tuesday.

Frederick Kitterle, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Northern Illinois University, will visit Wednesday and Thursday.

The other two candidates will follow with visits during the next two weeks.

The visits will start with breakfast with Kent State President Carol Cartwright and Scott Sullivan, chairman of the provost search committee. The candidates also will meet the executive vice presidents, student leaders, trustees and members of the university community.

All-Campus Programming Board President Brian Hanner is one of the students meeting the candidates. Student leaders will have lunch with the candidates on the first day of visits.

"I think it is absolutely critical that students are involved in the process," Hanner said. "The provost is the chief academic officer at the university. That's what students come here for ­ academics."

Hanner said the new provost should have good communication skills.

"We need someone who can talk not only with the executive officers, but also someone who can talk to faculty members and students," he said. "The more they (the provost) can better communicate with students, the better off everyone will be."

Sullivan has said that students will be able to give their own input to Cartwright and the search committee after they meet the candidates.

"We are excited to have this many people involved in the interview process," Sullivan said previously. "The more people we have involved, the more confident we can be that we make the right decision."

Cartwright will decide ultimately which candidate to hire, and the new provost could start at Kent State as early as spring 1999.