After two days of deliberation, the board of trustees announced its pick for the next university president.

Kenneth Kitts, current provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke claimed a vote from the eight present board members.

“We’re not finished until he accepts, but we’re confident he will take the offer,” said President Pro Tempore of the board Marty Abroms. “With all three candidates, we were told if we called them today, they would have accepted.”

During the search, more than 20 university needs were identified, and the candidates were compared in how they could best fill those needs, said trustee and Presidential Search Committee Chairman Joel Anderson.

The needs include fundraising, developing more student-centered marketing and matching the courses offered with student needs, Anderson said.

“We tried to take each one of the candidates and see where they ranked in each particular area,” he said. “There was never a case where one candidate rose way above the others, but some creeps started to happen and it just seemed to be a little more consistency in Kenneth Kitts.”

Abroms said the search firm discussed a range of compensation with the candidates, and he expects the position salary will increase.

“It’ll be competitive with other colleges in our peer group,” he said. “It may be a bit more (than the current salary), but it’ll be in that general range.”

Anderson said he expects negotiations will begin within the next week, and he hopes the position is filled by the start of the 2015-16 school year.