The SIU board of trustees met Monday in Edwardsville to vote on a separation agreement with system president Randy Dunn and appoint an Interim President.
The agreement comes after emails and documents were released that show Dunn worked with SIUE administrators to allocate funds from Carbondale to Edwardsville to be more equal in terms of enrollment.
His contract as president ends on July 30th, after that he will receive a 6-month severance totaling $215,000 as well as visiting professor position at the Edwardsville campus.
Before the board went into executive session the public was as given the opportunity to speak.
?Voices for both campuses want the system to heal.
SIUE School of education, health, and human services director Gretchen Fricke?thanked President Dunn for his service and ask the board to move forward.
“I want to urge the board and the president’s office to look for?ways to heal the?division and fractures that have occurred over the past few months, both among board members and within the system you are charged with leading.”??
Collin Van Meter with the SIUE IT department spoke to the board Monday morning. He wants them to eliminate the partisanship that currently has the campuses divided.? ?
“I am not here today to admonish your actions or question the decisions that have been made, I am here today to warn you that you have lost the faith of this campus and I am here to challenge you to do better, I challenge you to look from a new perspective to see us as a member of this system that has long felt betrayed and ignored.”?
Duff?Wrobbel?is the department chair for SIUE applied communication studies. He?supported Dunn for trying to do what he says the board has neglected to do for years.??
“You brought President Dunn into do solve a problem that you all have avoided for over a decade and now?your?paying him more money we don’t have by shoving him out when he’s finally trying to fix I, you’ve literally?made things worse rather better so I sincerely hope that you and our next president come up with a better plan to move us forward.”?
Once the board resumed the open meeting, trustees unanimously voted in favor of accepting the separation agreement and then appointed?former SIU School of Medicine Dean?Kevin Dorsey as Interim President.?Dorsey's term would be for one year, or until a permanent President can be hired. He'll be paid $430,000.?
Dorsey says the issue of allocation will be looked at in more detail? ?
“It is my understanding that allocation has been done on a historical basis, I think we need data to inform the allocation and then make a reasonable decision and implementation based on that information. What concerns me the most frankly is that if the decision is made to implement at warp speed it could damage one?o?both of the institutions and if either is damaged all will?lose.” 31:56?
In august the board will meet again to discuss moving forward on a search for a new permanent president for SIU.?
