COLUMBUS — Growing impatient with Ohio State's search for a football coach? Be thankful you don't follow the university's more scholarly programs.

        John Cooper was fired Jan.2, but a new coach likely will be named soon. Recruiting a top scientist or scholar to Ohio State, however, can take a year or more.

        For example, the College of Biological Sciences' eminent-scholar chair in molecular genetics has been open since 1997. The college's eminent-scholar chair in biochemistry has been open even longer, said Dean Alan Goodridge.

        “That search has been on and off for about 10 years,” Dean Goodridge said. “We did look for a number of years, but we're not looking at this point.”

        Football and basketball coaches have to be replaced in weeks because candidates are un der siege, said Susan Henderson, associate athletic director.

        “You've got all these candidates and they're all being asked things in the press,” she said.

        Faculty searches usually involve more candidates and more people in making a final selection.

        To recruit a top scientist or scholar, OSU advertises in national journals and then appoints a search committee to narrow the field. Before a name is given to President William Kirwan and the board of trustees, it has been reviewed by the department, college and vice president.

        “If you're looking for senior faculty, you don't need to advertise nationally,” said provost Ed Ray. “But one of the reasons that we do is that, for faculty hires, we don't get the kind of publicity that you have in hiring a coach.” Mr. Ray said a faculty search typically begins in September and results in an offer being made by spring. The new professor should be on campus by the following fall.

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