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NIU Board Of Trustees Won't Begin Presidential Search Until Fall 2018

NIU's Altgeld Hall
Susan Stephens
/
WNIJ
NIU's Altgeld Hall

Northern Illinois University won't begin a formal search for its next president until next year.  The Board of Trustees said the timing is in the best interest of the university.

In a letter released Monday to the NIU community, Board Chairman Wheeler Coleman and Vice Chair Dennis Barsema said feedback from faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders led to the determination to start the search in fall of 2018.

The two said there was a strong push for an open and inclusive process, however long that would take.  

Coleman said there was also a sense that, as NIU dealt with the effects of the state budget impasse and other issues, the university was simply not ready to start such a search.

“Coming off the heels of an unexpected presidential resignation," he said, "we just felt that it was in the best interests of the university to kind of stabilize ourselves at this point in time – get our act together.”  

At the same time, there was concern that a search not delay progress on important university initiatives. 

Coleman said that, with Acting President Lisa Freeman and her team in charge, NIU has strong leadership to carry it forward until someone takes the office on a permanent basis. 

Guy Stephens produces news stories for the station, and coordinates our online events calendar, PSAs and Arts Calendar announcements. In each of these ways, Guy helps keep our listening community informed about what's going on, whether on a national or local level. Guy's degrees are in music, and he spent a number of years as a classical host on WNIU. In fact, after nearly 20 years with Northern Public Radio, the best description of his job may be "other duties as required."
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