Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees has named Randy Dunn as the university's next president.
Dunn will take over for retiring SIU President Glenn Poshard, who has served since 2006 as the system’s CEO. Monday night, Youngstown State announced Dunn’s resignation as President there would be effective August 16th. He was required to give 180 days’ notice before leaving the Ohio school. It’s unclear how SIU will fill an apparent gap between Poshard’s retirement, expected in June, and Dunn’s availability in August.
SIU trustees made the announcement about 20-minutes following the start of a special session at 2:00p Monday afternoon on the SIU Edwardsville campus. The board's decision was unanimous. Dunn will be paid $430,000 a year. Dunn has only been president at YSU for about seven months. Prior to YSU, Dunn served from 2006 until June 30th of last year as President of Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. Murray State did not renew Dunn's contract. Prior to his post at Murray State, Dunn taught at SIU in the College of Education until he left in 2004 to become interim State Superintendent of Schools for Illinois.
Youngstown officials say they were caught off-guard. A story by The Vindicator reports Youngstown State University Chairman Sudershan Garg said this morning that he hadn’t spoken with Dunn since news broke of his pending appointment to the SIU job. Garg said he wasn’t aware that Dunn was unhappy and Dunn hadn’t made the board aware of problems nor any sticking points during the negotiation of his contract. According to the Vindicator, Dunn's contract with YSU is for three years. It was signed last June and can be terminated by the University at any time without cause upon a majority vote of the board. Dunn may terminate the agreement at any time by giving 180 days advance notice unless that notice is waived by Youngstown State. Youngstown State trustees are scheduled to meet tonight to discuss their options.
SIU Trustees began the search for a new President last year, after current CEO Glenn Poshard announced he'd be retiring this summer.
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The University's Board of Trustees has called a special meeting for Monday afternoon in Edwardsville, with "Appointment of President" as the only open session item.
The new President will take over for Glenn Poshard, who announced last year that he will retire this summer.
The Board confirmed on Thursday that five finalists had been forwarded from the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, and at least some of those finalists were interviewed last week.
Monday's meeting is set for 2:00pm on the SIU Edwardsville campus.
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