Eastern could soon join three other Illinois institutions of higher education in search for a university president.

The Board of Trustees will decide Tuesday if a presidential leadership change is needed at a special-session meeting. If the BOT concludes a change is needed, the next step is to advertise the job opening in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Eastern has searched for a full-time replacement for university president since Carol Surles resigned July 1, 2001 because of health problems. Interim President Lou Hencken assumed the role Aug. 1, 2001.

The Chronicle, a weekly newspaper with a circulation of more than 450,000, covers higher education and government issues. The newspaper is primarily distributed to higher education institutions across the nation.

Job openings at all levels for higher education are posted in a section similar to the classified ads found in regular newspapers, along with online, said Michael Solomon, manager of the Chronicle’s external communications.

“Every school does it differently,” Solomon said. “It just depends on how much they want to sell the school or the position, or to just provide basic information.”

At the moment, 51 public and private universities and colleges have job openings for presidents, according to the Chronicle’s Web site. Three of those schools are from Illinois and one, Illinois State University, is a public university.

Illinois State’s open position was posted Aug. 29 and will receive applications “any day now,” said Stan Ommen, co-chair of the Illinois State search committee and member of the BOT.

Illinois State has an ad in both the Chronicle’s 80-page job section and online. Solomon says the newspaper often exceeds 100 pages, but response to the jobs is good. Eastern received 52 applicants in its 2001 search.

“We get feedback like ‘Wow, we were overwhelmed,’ ” Solomon says. “Or, ‘Wow, we got really good candidates.’ “