Seldom on a major research campus has there been a leadership void resembling what exists at West Virginia University, a proud institution trying to rebound from scandal.

Searches are under way -- or soon will begin -- to find permanent replacements for key posts, including:

• President.

• Provost.

• Vice president for health sciences.

• Vice president for research and economic development.

• Medical school dean.

• Business school dean.

The void extends all the way to the university's board of governors, where Chairman Stephen Goodwin will relinquish his title in a few weeks and Robert Wells, board vice chairman, has asked to leave the panel entirely at month's end.

That board is trying to secure an interim replacement this summer for WVU President Mike Garrison, who announced nine days ago that he will step down Sept. 1 after a year in office.

Some of the departures -- specifically the medical school dean and vice presidents for health sciences and for research and economic development -- are unrelated to fallout over WVU's awarding of an unearned executive M.B.A. degree to Heather Bresch, daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin.

Regardless of why the openings exist, filling the posts now occupied largely by interim appointees presents a major hurdle for WVU at a time it is seeking a return to normalcy.

"Nobody here can remember a university needing to conduct searches for that wide an array of leadership at one time. Clearly that's a real challenge," said Barry Toiv, spokesman for the Association of American Universities.

"It is highly unusual to have all those positions vacant at the same time," said Sheldon Steinbach, a higher education law specialist and retired general counsel with the Washington, D.C.-based American Council on Education. "It's very rare."

On the one hand, the openings are an opportunity to effect change more rapidly because new presidents normally must navigate entrenched bureaucracies, Mr. Steinbach and others said. But a miscue in the sequence of the hiring could have harmful effects across the flagship university, in matters from the pace of building plans and decisions about research, to efforts at recruiting star faculty.

For instance, is it better to find a permanent replacement for Provost Gerald Lang even before hiring a permanent president so WVU can signal academic stability that might help attract better candidates for deanships and other academic posts?

Or should the permanent president have a hand in picking his or her own provost, decreasing the chance that WVU's chief executive and its top academic officer might clash over personalities or agenda?

"Where do you build the foundation first? Who do you hire first? That's the question," said Barbara Howe, a WVU professor, director of the center for women's studies and a member of Mountaineers for Integrity and Responsibility, a grass-roots organization formed after the Bresch controversy surfaced.

"People will want to know what charge the interim president is given," she said. "Are they telling the interim president to fill all these vacancies, or are they telling the interim, 'Just keep a roof on things until we have a new president?' ''

Mr. Goodwin was unavailable to be interviewed directly for this article, but he gave written responses to several questions, including how WVU will decide which posts to fill first.

"These questions need to await further conversations amongst the members of the board," he said. "We hope to talk within the next week to more specifically outline where we go from here, but I would think our first priority would be the appointment of a strong and respected interim president, who will help guide this process."

A public statement later issued by WVU said board members hope to make the appointment "as close to Sept. 1 as possible" and will turn their attention to finding a permanent president "after an interim president is firmly in place."

Mr. Goodwin, who will remain chairman until a successor is elected, he expressed confidence there will be plenty of candidates. "There are many strong, capable and committed men and women who are willing to serve in the chair, vice chair and other leadership positions," he said.

Becky Lofstead, WVU's executive director of internal communications, said the naming of E. Jane Martin last month to interim provost and vice president for academic affairs and research shows that "the academic side of the house is in great hands."

Dr. Martin, a longtime campus administrator and former nursing dean, will replace Dr. Lang, whose June 30 departure was announced in April, days after a report criticized WVU administrators for falsifying records to grant Ms. Bresch a degree she had not earned.

The finding was from an investigative panel created in January after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that WVU rewrote university records that originally showed she had earned only about half of the credits needed for the degree.

Former Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, who chaired the search that elevated Mark Nordenberg to University of Pittsburgh chancellor in the mid-1990s, said WVU "has a formidable task, especially searching for a provost at the same time they are searching for a president."

He said WVU would be well advised to resist temptation to make hasty decisions.

"You need to focus on getting the very best person you can and not hurry the search ... because the person you hire ideally will be there eight to 10 years," he said.

Searches to fill jobs lower in the hierarchy are less likely to turn on whether a permanent provost and president are in place, Mr. Roddey said. But WVU may want to wait on some upper-level appointments "until they get at least a president or a provost. I'm not sure you're going to be able to fill those positions if people don't know who they're going to be working for."

Last week, at least one of those key searches -- for a health sciences vice president -- was moving forward.

The Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center said a search committee held its first organizational meeting and that Dr. Martin, the interim provost, is now part of the panel. Robert M. D'Alessandri was health sciences vice president but left in April 2007 to become president of the new Medical College of Northeastern Pennsylvania in Scranton. Senior Associate Vice President Fred Butcher is serving as interim.

WVU also needs a permanent successor for John Weete, who left his post as vice president for research and economic development to become executive director of the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation. Curt Peterson, associate vice president for research and economic development, has been the interim since August 2007.

A search also is planned for a permanent successor for R. Stephen Sears, who resigned as college of business and economics dean amid fallout from the M.B.A. scandal. William N. Trumbull will serve as interim dean after Dr. Sears leaves June 30.

A successor also is needed for the former medical school dean, John E. Prescott, who in April returned to the Department of Emergency Medicine. James E. Brick, chair of the department of medicine, is interim dean.