“The selection committee is now focusing their discussions on S.M.U.; however, no final decision has been made,” Mr. Griffin said. He said the final decision was expected to be reached within “a few months,” although others have estimated the process could be completed within weeks.

Mr. Griffin said he could not discuss the criteria for the selection process, and he said issues concerning financing of the library and control of content, including interaction between the policy institute and the library, had not been decided.

“The committee has been focused on the selection of the site rather than fund-raising decisions,” Mr. Griffin said. “It could vary depending on what the site would be. We are in an early phase in the process, and those decisions about how much money will need to be raised will come later.”

The complex under discussion would include a public policy institute independent of the university and answerable to a Bush foundation, while the library and a museum would be under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration. But control of presidential documents remains a subject of dispute.

About 150 of the university’s 600 faculty members attended the meeting, voicing a range of concerns, particularly on whether the school’s academic freedom and political independence might appear compromised by an association with not only the Bush library but also a museum that would accompany it.

Thomas J. Knock, a professor of history, said the public might have trouble differentiating between the library, museum and the university.

James K. Hopkins, chairman of the history department who was co-chairman of the meeting with Ms. Blair, a professor of theater, said he had asked Dr. Turner under what circumstances the university would “walk away” from a deal with the library.