BOISE (AP) - Members of the committee searching for a new University of Idaho president say a candidate's willingness to stay and bring stability to campus has emerged as a key factor in the recruitment process.

They say a candidate seeking to stay long term would be a welcome change for the Moscow-based school, which has seen three interim and two permanent presidents since 2003.

Current President Duane Nellis arrived on scene promising stability and worked just four years before accepting the presidential post at Texas Tech University in March. Nellis took over for Tim White, who left UI in 2008 to become chancellor at the University of California at Riverside.

Ken Edmunds, the former state Board of Education President, said turnover has been detrimental to the school, which has also had to deal with other stresses caused by pressure to boost enrollment and manage state budget cuts.

"We need to find someone who is going to be there," he told The Idaho Statesman.

It hasn't always been this way.

Robert Hoover served from 1996 until 2003, and several of his predecessors served at least that length of time. But the State Board of Education, which governs Idaho's four public universities, has in recent years acted as a traffic cop as the last two UI presidents made short stops before dashing off to larger universities.

"We can't afford to have this feeling of insecurity," said state Rep. Cindy Agidius, a Republican from Moscow and has lived near campus for 30 years. "We need someone who is ... not using U of I as a steppingstone."

The post holds plenty of challenges for the next president.

University officials say stiff budget cuts since 2009 and other stresses make the job tougher. Since the recession began, UI has lost $30 million in state financial support, leading to a freeze on salaries that have caused some professors to seek jobs elsewhere.

"We are bleeding in so many different ways," Nellis said. "Funding has been a real challenge ... We are losing good people."

Tom Bitterwolf, a 20-year veteran chemistry professor, said the turnover has left little room for the university to communicate its vision or accomplish long-term goals. Pressure to grow enrollment from 12,000 to 16,000 students by 2020 dates back three presidents, he said.

Bitterwolf said the challenge coming from Boise State University has also created challenges for past UI presidents.

For example, BSU's growing academic and athletic profile has created new competition for students and public funding. BSU President Bob Kustra, now a 10-year veteran at the helm in Boise, is largely credited for enhancing the institution's research portfolio, adding new buildings and lifting enrollment.

A president who establishes roots at UI, Bitterwolf said, is necessary for the university to chart its own path forward.