Finalists for chancellorship to visit SIU Carbondale

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The first of four finalists vying for the post of chancellor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus is scheduled to visit today for an interview, officials said.

President Glenn Poshard said he hopes to have a new chancellor for the 20,000-student campus hired within the next month.

The first finalist, Fernando Trevino, dean at the University of North Texas' School of Public Health, will visit the campus today to speak with faculty, staff and students.

University of Nevada-Reno Executive Vice President and Provost John Frederick will visit Thursday.

Next week, the campus will host to University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Provost Sue Kiefer Hammersmith and Yash Gupta, a professor of operations management in the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

The new chancellor will replace Walter Wendler, who was ousted from the post last fall because of eroding enrollment, allegations of plagiarism and a lack of an "atmosphere of teamwork."

He was temporarily replaced with SIU Provost John Dunn.

"Yes, there are a lot of things that must match up," Poshard said. "This person has to be a scholar, a teacher, shown success working outside in the community, and there has got to be chemistry obviously between the campus and the board."

Campus groups, including the faculty senate and student leadership groups, said they hope to meet with the candidates.

Jon Pressley, a search committee member who is president of the SIUC Graduate and Professional Student Council, said he hopes students listen to the candidates during the visits.

"The next person will have to be someone who can work with us and move the campus the right way," he said.