Ultimately, the Board of Trustees will make the final decision on who becomes Eastern’s ninth full-time president as early as Tuesday.

Interim President Lou Hencken said Thursday he would strongly consider accepting the position full time for two or three more years if offered before the search process begins.

“I don’t know what the Board will decide,” Hencken said. ” … I will be comfortable with whatever the decision.”

And that decision will solely be on the shoulders of the seven BOT members.

According to Article II, Section 7A of its governing policy that deals with the selection and evaluation of the president, the BOT controls much of the search process.

Eastern faculty has voiced concern of the lack of time spent in a search process that could end Tuesday.

Betsy Mitchell, chair of the Presidential Search Committee, said search consultant Jim Appleberry of the Academic Search Consultation Service, concluded a majority of campus favored electing Hencken president from a series of meetings Sept. 11 and 12.

However, Faculty Senate chair David Carpenter was quick to point out attendance was low at Appleberry’s one public session. Only five people attended the meeting.

Previously, Carpenter had written a letter voicing the Senate’s concern about a lack of information regarding the search.

“The senate, as well as members of the search committee, were distressed over the late announcement that Appleberry was even on campus,” Carpenter said. “Consequently, the turnout was poor and if he is justifying a position for the Board to take in the search based on discussions he had with the campus, I wonder to what extent those discussions were representative of the campus at large.”

“The board’s role is to make sure we serve the purpose of the university best we can,” Anderson said.

Hencken, formerly the vice president for student affairs, accepted the position on an interim basis Aug. 1, 1999, after Carol Surles resigned two months earlier because of illness.

“At this particular time, we want to get the results from Betsy and Jim Appleberry on how to proceed in the direction we need to go,” said BOT Chair Nate Anderson.

The BOT has a special-session meeting scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday via telephone to discuss whether a leadership change is in the university’s best interest. The 13-member search committee comprised of administrators, faculty, students and BOT members met for the first time Tuesday.

A nationwide search, which spanned from fall 2001 to spring 2002, failed to land a new president after the top candidate declined Eastern’s offer.

Hencken, who previously said this academic year would be his last as president, said he began to consider accepting an offer after Appleberry and numerous BOT members expressed interest. The interim president had applied for the position in 2001, but he was not among the three final candidates.