The UNC system will pay a Dallas-based consultant $100,000 to assist in the search for the next university president.

The system has hired R. William Funk & Associates, a firm whose name may ring a bell. Funk ran the search at UNC-Chapel Hill that resulted in the hiring of current Chancellor Holden Thorp, and he was involved in a recent provost search there as well.

Funk has led searches for leaders at dozens of large universities and university systems, including a recent search at Virginia.

Funk's flat fee contract runs from April 23 to Dec. 31 or until the next leader is chosen. The $100,000 fee was the most the UNC system was willing to spend, said Hannah Gage, chairwoman of the UNC system's Board of Governors.

State funds will not be used.

Gage said Funk was a good candidate in part due to his prior work in North Carolina.

"He understands North Carolina and has worked closely on searches for our system," Gage said. "He has a sense of the governance structure and how we work with the legislature."

A UNC system committee interviewed five firms before settling on Funk, who pledged not to work for any other university system while he was under UNC's employ, Gage said.