Finalists for the vacant budget director position were announced, and the Office of Business Affairs hopes to make its decision in about a week.

Carole Borggren, Dennis Jones and John Sipes are the finalists.

Borggren is currently the director for the Office of Financial Analysis and Budget at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from Northwestern University, a Master of Arts degree in art history from Boston University and a master of business administration degree from Boston University.

Jones serves as budget director of Virginia State University in Blacksburg, Va.

He holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in business from Eastern and has completed graduate coursework in English from Eastern and Virginia State University.

Sipes is the current asset and liability manager at First Mid-Illinois Bank and Trust in Mattoon.

He holds an associate’s degree in business administration from Parkland College, a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Eastern and a Master of Business Administration from Eastern.

“It would be nice to hire an Eastern alum, but we owe it to the university, state and townspeople to hire the best possible candidate,” said Paul McCann, director of business services.

The screening committee will present its final candidate recommendation to McCann and Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs.

McCann and Cooley ultimately decide which candidate to hire.

Application reviews began January 12 and are ongoing until the position is filled. The projected start date is July 1.

“Hopefully, within the next week we will have some decisions made,” McCann said.

William Weber, associate vice president for academic affairs, has been interim budget director since Jim Shonkwiler’s October 2007 retirement.

Shonkwiler holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

As the budget inches toward approval, the budget director works closely with the Board of Trustees, Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Governor’s office and Illinois state legislatures, McCann said.

Other responsibilities of the budget director include allocating dollars, spending and managing funds, and planning and reallocating funds to colleges and departments.

McCann said in the past, the budget director position was under-utilized, but the position is essential to the management and growth of Eastern.

The applicant screening committee comprises representatives from academic affairs, business affairs, the business office and the budget office.

Representatives from external relations, faculty senate, staff senate, student affairs, student senate and the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity will also be involved.

Six applicants initially vied for position of budget director.

Last October, notifications of the vacancy were placed in local, national publications and online employment databases, about 20 vehicles total.

Budgets are worked on a year-plus out, McCann said.

The 2009 budget is being worked on extensively because of recent state budget cuts, and the 2010 budget will be presented at the June 23 Board of Trustees meeting.

Thomas Stevens can be reached at 581-7942 or at tmstevens@eiu.edu.