Ohio State will be paying a search firm a fixed fee of $200,000 for its assistance with recruiting a new university president.

OSU officials signed the contract – issued Aug. 16 and signed by firm President R. William Funk Sept. 6 – with private, Dallas-based firm R. William Funk & Associates Tuesday.

Although typically the firm charges 33 and one-third percent of the total first year’s cash compensation plus bonus for the position it seeks to fill, it agreed upon a fixed fee in this instance, according to the contract.

The firm will also be reimbursed for expenses related to the search in addition to the $200,000, including the cost of direct, out-of-pocket expenses, such as candidate and consultant travel and lodging, to be billed monthly, and the cost of administrative and support expenses, such as communication and computer usage, to be billed at 10 percent of the fee, coming out to $20,000.

Funk will be the consultant conducting the search, which includes meeting with the OSU Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee, as well as contacting and interacting with the candidates, according to the contract.

Should the president selected leave the position within two years for any reason, R. William Funk & Associates will redo the search for no additional charge besides out-of-pocket and allocated expenses.

The contract also states the services R. William Funk & Associates will provide are to be kept confidential – there will be no news items or public statements released, among other stipulations.

The firm is not allowed to later recruit whoever is chosen for the presidency for the duration of that person’s contract with OSU, but exceptions on the rule include situations where university executives are seeking other employment opportunities with OSU’s knowledge or where officials were being recruited prior to Tuesday.

According to the contract, R. William Funk & Associates uses a search process that includes “potential candidate identification, recruitment, and research, candidate contact, evaluation and presentation, interviews, referencing, background checks and assistance in the offer, negotiation, closure and transition management.”