Bob Asmussen discusses the AD position. Watch what he says here.

CHAMPAIGN — The University of Illinois has hired an outside consultant to help find a new athletic director to replace Ron Guenther.

The UI signed a contract Wednesday with Parker Executive Search, a global firm that has extensive experience with high-level athletic searches at other universities, UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler said.

When the search committee was appointed last week, UI officials said they had opted not to use a search firm unless they needed help with specific tasks such as background checks. They said they wanted to do as much of the work internally as possible.

In the interim, UI President Michael Hogan met with interim Chancellor Robert Easter and search committee chairman Larry DeBrock, dean of the UI College of Business, to discuss the possibility of using a search firm, DeBrock said Wednesday.

"We talked about the pluses and minuses of involving a search firm, given the high-profile nature of this search," DeBrock said. "Obviously he was interested in making sure that we had all the avenues covered."

They subsequently discussed it at the first meeting of the 10-member search committee Monday night, and "we agreed we would engage a search firm that has a great national reputation for working in the athletics arena."

The decision should not affect the timeline for the search, with the goal to find an athletic director before Guenther steps down July 1, DeBrock said.

"That's still the plan," DeBrock said. "They're there to help us facilitate the process."

The amount of the contract signed Wednesday was not immediately available.

The Parker search firm is on a list of preferred vendors at the university for contracts up to a certain dollar limit. They go through a competitive bidding process to be on the vendor list, Kaler said.

Parker, which has clients in higher education, collegiate athletics, corporate and nonprofit firms, has been involved in recent searches for head coaches at Vanderbilt, Bradley, Georgia State and Northern Illinois universities. Its website lists scores of other searches for both coaches and athletic directors.

The firm was also used when the UI hired B. Joseph White as president in 2005, Kaler said.

"This is a very high-profile search, and I think the group involved in conducting it is taking the task very seriously," Kaler said. "The decision was that adding a search firm to the mix of people on the team would be helpful."