URBANA — Last October, Associate Provost Keith Marshall announced in an e-mail the postponement of the search for a new Uni director/principal, citing the need for additional time to make the school more attractive to candidates.

In a meeting for the general Uni community on Wednesday, the Parent-Faculty Organization will give the latest update on the ongoing principal search and concomitant changes to the school.

The meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. in Room 1404 of the Siebel Center, will begin with a presentation by Director/Principal Steve Epperson of the results of an online survey sent to parents, students, faculty, and alumni.

The survey garnered 551 responses to questions regarding such matters as the facilities most in need of renovation, the characteristics needed in a prospective principal, and the vision statement of Uni High. The PFO will distribute a report detailing the breakdown of the results.

Next, Marshall will explain the plans for renovating the school, which include repainting walls, repairing plaster cracks, and refurbishing lockers, some of which is already underway. Another major change that Marshall will address is the planned incorporation of greater security measures, which will likely involve locking the main doors to outside visitors.

“Students may not like to hear that,” Epperson said this week in an interview with the Gargoyle, “but we feel like we need to restrict access to the building during the school day.”

Epperson will also discuss plans for a summer retreat involving parents, faculty, students, and alumni. The purpose of the retreat would be to discuss Uni's future direction.

Finally, the floor will be opened for questions and informal discussion. Neither the objective data from the survey nor the qualitative input of Uni community members outside of the administration have a direct role in final decisions about school changes, but Epperson would like to keep the community involved in the process.

As an example, he points out that nearly 80 percent of survey respondents preferred improving the current building over constructing a new facility.

“See, that’s useful because that’s overwhelming,” said Epperson. “That’s the kind of interesting stuff that comes out of this. That’s what I think has value for planning for the future.”