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The private meeting, to begin at 5 p.m., will include Des Moines businessman Michael Gartner, the president of the Board of Regents; interim U of I President Gary Fethke; and leaders of the university's faculty, staff and student body, Matt Paul, a Vilsack spokesman, said Friday.

The meeting will be held in Cedar Rapids. Vilsack will be in that city on other business Monday, Paul said.

The governor is expected to make public remarks after the meeting, his aide said.

The purpose of the meeting is to "find consensus of moving this search forward, focusing on the quality of candidates and how it fits with the strategic plan," Paul said.

"The governor continues to believe we all want the same thing," Paul said.

The search for a president to replace David Skorton - a career U of I faculty member and administrator before he left in the summer to become president of Cornell University in New York - has been embroiled in controversy almost from its beginning.

Faculty members were upset with the role that the regents took in the search process, with four of the 18 members of the search committee being members of the Board of Regents, and Teresa Wahlert, a regent from West Des Moines, being chairwoman of the committee.

The controversy came to a head on Nov. 17 when the regents voted 6-2 to throw out the four finalists, disband the search committee and restart the search process.

Gartner said regents did not feel that the finalists had enough health science experience.

He also expressed concern that there was not a woman among the final four.

The meeting Monday will be held one day before U of I faculty members are scheduled to take a no-confidence vote in the regents.

Sheldon Kurtz, a U of I professor and president of the Faculty Senate, said Friday, "I'm pleased the governor is stepping in to listen to what we have to say."

Kurtz added, "No reference was made to the no-confidence vote, but the stated purpose is to see what we can do to turn things around."

Gartner, the regents president, has become the focus of criticism on the Iowa City campus because of his role as a member of the search committee and as the only member of the regents' majority who has spoken publicly since the vote earlier this month.

Members of the 18-person search committee said Gartner supported Deborah Freund, a former vice chancellor and provost at Syracuse University.

She did not make the list of four finalists, according to committee members, for reasons that included concerns about her involvement with a health insurance company in New York, a belief that the four finalists were stronger candidates, and concerns about Freund's style of management.

Gov. Tom Vilsack will meet Monday with Iowa Board of Regents President Michael Gartner and University of Iowa leaders to discuss how to proceed after a multi-month presidential search ended Nov. 17 when the regents rejected four finalists for the position.

The private meeting at 5 p.m. in Cedar Rapids will also include faculty, staff, student and alumni representatives, Matt Paul, a Vilsack spokesman, said today.

Vilsack will talk publicly after the meeting, Paul said.

The purpose of the meeting is to "find consensus of moving this search forward, focusing on the quality of candidates and how it fits with the strategic plan," Paul said. "The governor continues to believe we all want the same thing."

The talk occurs one day before U of I faculty members have scheduled a no-confidence vote in the Board of Regents.

Faculty, staff and students were outraged at the decision to scrap the search, calling it a "betrayal."

The regents voted 6-2 on Nov. 17 to discard the four finalists and restart the search.

Gartner said regents did not feel that the finalists had enough health science experience and that there was not a woman among the final four.

Members of the 18-person search committee said Gartner supported Deborah Freund, former vice chancellor and provost at Syracuse University. She did not make the list of four finalists.