EIGHT FIUNALISTS FOR SEMO ASSISTANT PRESIDENT

Southeast Missouri State University has narrowed its search for a new assistant to the president for diversity issues to eight finalists.

The position could be filled by Aug. 1, Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president, said Thursday.

He said university officials hope to have the new administrator on board by Sept. 1.

In all, about 100 people from 30 states submitted applications.

The university is now in the process of interviewing three of the finalists and may interview some of the others, Wallhausen said.

"It's a good group and the other five are equally as well qualified," Wallhausen said of the candidates recommended by the search committee.

The three finalists being interviewed, all of them black attorneys, are: Willyerd Collier, a program associate in the affirmative action office at the University of Iowa; Alice Bynum, assistant to the chancellor for legal affairs and affirmative action/Equal Employment Opportunity officer at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina; and Mattielyn Williams, director of legal and educational services with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in Nashville.

Collier visited the campus Thursday to meet with university officials, student leaders and various campus groups.

Bynum is scheduled to visit the campus Monday, and Williams is slated to be on campus next Thursday.

The new assistant to the president will fill a position that has been vacant since the death of Edward Spicer last October.

Wallhausen said the new assistant to the president will supervise the university's compliance with federal regulations in the areas of affirmative action, Equal Employment Opportunity and handicapped accessibility.

"That's the enforcement part of the job, but there are also litigation-prevention activities," he pointed out.

To that end, the assistant to the president will look at trying to correct problems before they become the subject of litigation.

That person will also supervise Southeast's "efforts to enroll and retain a diverse student body, faculty and staff," said Wallhausen.

"All of that is spelled out in the university's affirmative action plan," he said. "It's a commitment on the part of the university to try to create and maintain an intellectually diverse and multicultural community.

"It's not just blacks," he said. "It's all minorities; it's women's issues, all those issues that are at the forefront of social change and cultural change in America."

Wallhausen said the position is a key administrative one at Southeast. "It's a leadership position, not just a staff position. It is a very broad-based position."