Randy Dunn, the university system’s president, said he hadn’t asked to give up his job. Southern Illinois U.
The Southern Illinois University system’s Board of Trustees is preparing to oust the system’s president, according to a special-meeting notice from the board.
The agenda of a meeting planned for Friday states that the board’s executive committee will meet to consider the “administrative leave of president” and “appointment of acting president.”
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Randy Dunn, the university system’s president, said he hadn’t asked to give up his job. Southern Illinois U.
The Southern Illinois University system’s Board of Trustees is preparing to oust the system’s president, according to a special-meeting notice from the board.
The agenda of a meeting planned for Friday states that the board’s executive committee will meet to consider the “administrative leave of president” and “appointment of acting president.”
Randy J. Dunn, president of the Southern Illinois system, told the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday that he had not asked to take a leave of absence from his position.
Controversy surrounding Dunn’s leadership has boiled over in recent months. In April system officials debated whether to move $5.1 million in state funds from the Carbondale campus to the Edwardsville campus. Advocates for the Edwardsville campus, where the enrollment is growing, argued that it should get more of the state funding.
The financial plan, and the reaction to it, exposed deep tensions between the two campuses. Trustees eventually voted to shelve the proposal, but state lawmakers have introduced legislation that would put allocations for the campuses into the state legislature’s hands, not the board’s.
Dunn said after the vote that he would work with a consultant to get the funding formula to mirror enrollment changes on the two campuses.
But emails obtained by a columnist for The Southern Illinoisan quoted Dunn as shrugging off concerns from the Carbondale advocates, referring to them as “bitchers.”
The board’s secretary, Joel W. Sambursky, wrote in a statement on Wednesday: “After last week’s Board of Trustees meeting, the board received additional information that has led me to believe, for the health of the SIU System, a special meeting of the Executive Committee is necessary.”
But the board’s chairwoman, Amy Sholar, told the Tribune that the special meeting was an attempt by two trustees, including Sambursky, to “control the entire board,” which she called “distasteful.” Sholar, Sambursky, and J. Phil Gilbert make up the board’s executive committee.
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The Tribune noted that it’s unclear whether the executive committee has the authority to remove Dunn on its own.
Last updated (6/6/2018, 10:44 p.m.): This article has been updated to include a statement from the Board of Trustees’ chairwoman.
Fernanda is the engagement editor at The Chronicle. She is the voice behind Chronicle newsletters like the Weekly Briefing, Five Weeks to a Better Semester, and more. She also writes about what Chronicle readers are thinking. Send her an email at fernanda@chronicle.com.
