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With Chancellor Albert Carnesale on his way out, the search for a new chief executive begins – a task that has become almost routine for university officials amid a recent slew of chancellorship vacancies across the state.

Carnesale’s resignation will mark the fifth time in just two years that the UC Office of the President will undergo an extensive hunt to find a new chancellor.

Though the search for a replacement chief executive at UCLA is still in its infancy, University of California officials say a look at recent appointees at other campuses can give students an idea of what traits to expect in their next chancellor, with scholarly flair, a knack for managing and a personable demeanor as some primary qualities.

“(The chancellor position) has more specifications than most CEOs of large corporations,” said Cliff Brunk, chairman of the UC Academic Senate.

If recent selections are any indication, the next chancellor will likely leave a high-ranking position at another top university.

Newly appointed chancellors include a former dean from the University of Washington now at UC Santa Cruz, the former president of the University of Toronto who took the helm at UC Berkeley and a chancellor who left North Carolina State University to run the UC San Diego campus.

Though most chancellor spots are filled by candidates outside the UC system, picks from within are not uncommon.

UC Irvine chancellor Michael Drake served as UC vice president for health affairs for five years before taking the top spot in Irvine.

Most UC chancellors also boast a strong academic background with a recent emphasis on the sciences – the latest appointees include a chemist, an electrical engineer and a physicist.

UC officials say chancellor smarts translate into faculty respect.

“As a dean, I want the leader not to just be an administrator but also be an intellectual leader,” said Tony Chan, UCLA’s dean of physical sciences.

With three UC chancellors belonging to racial minorities and four who are women, diversity may play a key role in filling the vacancy at UCLA. Though UC Office of the President spokesman Noel Van Nyhuis shied away from saying as much, he did say that placing more minorities and women in leadership roles is important to UC President Robert Dynes.

Another UC official was more blunt.

When Brunk was asked if race or gender would be a factor, he said “everything is,” implying that race and gender along with other attributes would factor into the final decision.

“Ultimately, the No. 1 priority is finding the best candidate for the job,” Van Nyhuis added.

Though Brunk said the recent searches for chancellors at UCLA’s sister schools have generated a list of “usual suspects,” the selection process will likely take months before the large group of candidates are finally narrowed to a short list and, ultimately, to a new chancellor.

The list of potential candidates is a well-kept secret, as many of the top contenders often hold high ranking positions at other universities.

Brunk said a leak would likely embarrass the candidate, worry the candidate’s employer and could potentially take the candidate out of the running.

The search will start with a “campus day,” when a UCOP-appointed advisory commission visits UCLA to get a sense of the direction students, faculty and community leaders want their campus to take.

From that visit, the panel will determine a best-fit profile, which an outside executive identification firm will use to form a list of potential candidates. That list will be narrowed to just a handful of contenders by a panel of about a dozen regents, faculty, staff, students, alumni and community representatives.

From that short list, Dynes will recommend one candidate to the UC Regents, who will confirm that nominee with an essentially symbolic vote.

“This is not an unfamiliar process to President Dynes,” Brunk said. “They’ve gone through it over and over again.”

Barring any selection delays or schedule conflicts with the eventual pick, a new chancellor should arrive in Westwood this spring.