ASPEN — The Board of Trustees searching for a new president for Colorado Mountain College on Monday decided to bring back two candidates for further interviews, to more closely “assess their skills and experience in regard to their ability to lead the college,” according to a statement issued by the college after the all-day meeting.

The two candidates asked to submit to continued interviews are Carrie Hauser, currently a senior fellow of Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and Alan Walker, whose most recent administrative post was as the president of Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa. Jill Boyle, CMC’s current senior vice president, withdrew from the search process Sept. 15.

The other remaining candidates — Leah Bornstein and Hank Dunn — are still under consideration as well, said Charles Dassance, CMC interim president.

“The board did not eliminate anybody,” he said. “This does not put the other two out of the running.”

Debbie Crawford, CMC public information officer, also emphasized that these additional interviews are just to help further assess Hauser and Walker’s skills and experience.

“[The board] just want more information from these two,” she said. “They voted to have them return, it does not rule out any of the four candidates.”

The search process started in June, when the board hired search consultant the Association of Community College Trustees to find a replacement for former President Stan Jensen. A screening committee composed of faculty, administrators, staff, a student, three community members and two of the college’s seven trustees reviewed completed applications.

Those reviews were followed by interviews of the candidates by employees and community members, senior college leadership and the board of trustees in a marathon, day-long series of videoconferences and meetings on Sept. 11, in addition to tours of two campuses.

The screening committee then forwarded to the board a list of semifinalists, from whom the board selected five finalists following interviews by the trustees.

At the trustee meeting on Monday, according to some of the college staff, it was anticipated that the board would choose a new president, something the board reportedly still expects to do by October.

“We have all taken considerable thought in making this decision,” said Glenn Davis, CMC board chair, in a prepared statement. “The board is unanimous in expressing its extreme appreciation for the input received from those employees and community members who cared enough about the college to take time to be a productive part of this most valuable process.”

The statement from the college, issued around 6 p.m. on Monday, made no mention of when or where the interviews of Hauser and Walker are to take place.

CMC is a junior college district with 11 locations in nine counties spread across the spine of the Colorado Rockies, with campuses or facilities in Aspen, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and Rifle, among other locations.

Summit Daily News reporter Kelsey Fowler contributed to this report.