First there were four, then there were three, now there are six finalists in the search for a new president of St. Charles Community College.

The SCC Board of Trustees narrowed a search committee's list of 10 semifinalists to six finalists Monday night. The committee reviewed 34 applications received since the board decided in June to restart the search process. The deadline to apply was Aug. 1.

Board President William R. Pundmann, who is chairing the search committee, said the board hopes to complete interviews by the end of August. He said no specific time has been set for naming a new president.

In an email response to questions, Pundmann said Tuesday that arrangements were being made for interviews with the six finalists.

He said SCC anticipates that "we will soon have an update as to the timing of interviews and be able to provide specific information about the six finalists."

He said the board is using the same interview process as it did previously, with on-campus interviews involving faculty, staff, administrators, community leaders and board members.

"The Board of Trustees is hopeful that a new president will be selected from the group of six," Pundmann wrote.

The board restarted the search after meeting June 28 in closed session. Three candidates then under consideration had withdrawn or were rejected by the board. They were under consideration after three of four initial finalists named in April had withdrawn.

The new president will succeed John McGuire, who originally planned to retire in September but is staying on temporarily. The college, established in 1986, hired McGuire in 1996 when its first president, Donald Shook, retired.

Earlier this year, the search committee narrowed 45 candidates to 11 semifinalists and presented those names to the board in April. The board then selected four finalists. They were Cliff Davis, vice president for institutional advancement and executive director of the OTC Foundation of Ozarks (Mo.) Technical Community College; Richard L. Dawe, president of Ozarka (Ark.) College: Maureen Murphy, president of San Jacinto College South in the San Jacinto (Texas) Community College District; and Joseph M. Sopcich, executive vice president of administrative services at Johnson County (Kan.) Community College.

In May, three candidates were considered before the board decided to restart the search process. The May candidates included Davis; Michael Banks, SCC vice president for academic and student affairs; and a third candidate whose name wasn't released.