The Board of Trustees has voted to appoint Suresh Garimella as the next president of the University.

Garimella was the only finalist yielded by the presidential search. The presidential search committee first met Sept. 11 of last year.

The lack of transparency in the search process drew criticism from some students and faculty who felt their input was not valued.

A newly formed student group, the Coalition for Student and Faculty Rights, hung posters around campus leading up to Garimella’s visit, encouraging students to join them in protesting him based on his professional background and the reduced student involvement in the presidential search process.

The candidate visited campus Thursday to meet with and answer questions from the UVM community. The visit fell on the same day as protests from the faculty union over cuts to the humanities.

This story updated 1:47 p.m. on Feb. 16 to make changes to the headline.