The committee searching for the next University of Northern Iowa president will interview nine candidates this weekend in closed-door sessions.

The candidate interviews will be held Friday and Saturday at the Minneapolis Airport Marriott in Bloomington, Minn. The search committee narrowed its list of candidates to nine, from a pool of about 40 applicants, at a meeting earlier this month.

After the airport interviews, a smaller number of candidates will be chosen for campus visits, scheduled to start Jan. 21. The search committee’s final recommendations are to be given to the state Board of Regents by Feb. 1.

The candidate interviews on Friday and Saturday begin at 7:30 a.m. both days. The meeting agenda is available at www.uni.edu/presidential-search/.

Current UNI President Ben Allen is retiring.