HONOLULU (KHON2) -- University of Hawaii president Wendy Hensel has been on the job for about two weeks and said she understands the importance of the search for the school's new athletics director. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You According to Hensel, she gets the most emails about this topic, indicating the significance athletics has for the community. Former AD Craig Angelos was fired in December after less than 18 months on the job. Many frustrated with Angelos ousting as UH Athletics Director The school’s Board of Regents suggested two big changes in the search: the new AD needs a contract and the school needs to hire a search firm to conduct a thorough, nationwide search. “Again on the order, that there are some challenges facing University of Hawaii and we need to get the best possible person we can for that job," said Hensel. "Athletics is a big part of the University of Hawaii and a big part of the state, so getting the right AD is definitely important," said Gabe Lee, Board of Regents Chair. Hensel added the school needs someone who puts the student-athletes first. "You know that health safety and wellness to me is a non-negotiable. Beyond that, I trust my experts in telling me what we need and who needs to come in based on what we had and where the gaps are," Hensel added. Due to the strong reaction from Angelos’ firing from student-athletes and constituents, Hensel promises full transparency on this hiring process. Check out more news from around Hawaii "I think we should absolutely listen. I don’t think we can stop them if we wanted to, which is good. As I always say, that passion is so great. The worst is indifference. If nobody cared about what we do, but everybody’s vested.”