State College Board members say that reference checks of potential candidates for the Mississippi State University presidency revealed no bad news, but the board has postponed a planned second round of interviews.

The entire board met Wednesday to hear the report of Jerry Baker, an Atlanta consultant who is managing the search.

Board member Scott Ross, who is chairing the presidential search committee, said Baker delivered the results of background checks on the MSU candidates.

Ross said the references that Baker checked all “sounded good.”

At the same time, the board announced the October 2 round of interviews would be postponed. Ross said the postponement was a scheduling issue and did not mean the search process was delayed.

The next MSU president will be the university’s fourth in a decade. The board has not revealed how many candidates have applied to replace retired Air Force General Doc Foglesong, who left in March 2008.