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SIU Board of Trustees Meet; Approve Pay Raises, New Hires and Pres. Search

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The search for a new President at Southern Illinois University took another step forward Thursday, as Trustees outlined the process they'll use.

Trustees approved a plan, which will include an outside firm to conduct the national search. Board Chairman Randal Thomas says the panel which will help in the selection process will include faculty, staff, students, community members and other stakeholders: "It's an advisory search committee, and we have established a charter for that committee which we will deliver to them once they are constituted, and we have established a timeline which will direct this seven- to eight-month search."
 
President Glenn Poshard announced his retirement plans earlier this summer - he'll step down next summer. Chairman Thomas says he's hopeful the search firm can be selected soon, and that the process will have a new President in place before Poshard's retirement.

In other action, Trustees approved a 2% pay increase for employees on all campuses, as well as an official budget for the fiscal year which began in July.  Leaders say the pay increase brings non-represented employees into line with what others are receiving this year, and that the budget had to wait for a vote until state funding issues were clear and enrollment numbers were firm.

SIU-C Fisheries Director Jim Garvey was named Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, Rae Goldsmith the new Chief Marketing Officer, and Matt Baughman the Assistant to the Chancellor.  A proposal for Fiscal Year 2015 was also approved, which will be the starting point for negotiations with the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois legislature.

During the public comments section of Thursday's Board of Trustees meeting in Carbondale, a Southern Illinois University researcher asked the Board to examine grant funding for the school - as he says fewer dollars will mean continued troubles for SIU-C.  Physics Professor Aldo Migone says external funding for research at SIU-C has dropped from $41 million to $27.5 million from fiscal year 2013 to this year. He says fewer research dollars will have a trickle-down effect... meaning fewer students on campus: "Research is what establishes the reputation of a national university. Excellence in research inoculates an institution against enrollment drops, because nationwide, students want to attend universities that have a strong reputation.
 
Migone says the problem is not just federal budget sequestration - he says there are changes made at the university's administrative level that are tying the hands of researchers hoping to get funding.
Chancellor Rita Cheng says there are several reasons for the drop in research dollars. She says there was a large number of retirees last year, and also says new federal guidelines are hampering some efforts:
"Besides sequestration, there are also new rules that both NSF and NIH have put in place that allow for only one principle investigator on a grant at a time. So some of our most prolific researchers who had multiple grants now have one at a time."

Board of Trustees Chairman Randal Thomas says he's sending the issue to the President's office for review, and hopes to have more answers - and perhaps new ideas - soon.

 

Jennifer Fuller joined Capitol News Illinois in July 2023 as the organization’s broadcast director. She will oversee the launch and operations of CNI’s new broadcast division.

Contact Jennifer Fuller at jfuller@capitolnewsillinois.com
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