Eastern will soon have a new vice president for university advancement to replace Jill Nilsen upon her retirement on Dec. 31.

“I would like to have someone on board in January,” said President Bill Perry. “That’s going to depend upon the person’s obligations in his or her current position.”

Perry met with the search committee last Thursday to discuss the four candidates who interviewed on campus.

“They discussed with me all the feedback from the campus, their estimations of the strengths of the candidates,” Perry said. “I’ll take that under advisement and make my decision and begin negotiations.”

After negotiations, Perry will hire James Salmo, Pamela Christman, Keith Carver or Robert Martin on a temporary basis until the Board of Trustees approves a full-time hire.

“I can make the commitment on a one-year contract,” Perry said. “For a longer, it requires approval from the board, but I will be consulting with the board informally, individual by individual about my selection. My intention will be to bring this to the board in the January meeting. In the meantime, I can move forward in making the commitment.”

The decision will be based on feedback from the interviews and the search committee’s recommendations.

“During the open sessions, people had the opportunity to make their comments to the search committee, and the committee pulled all that together and took it into account as well,” Perry said. “The hiring of a vice president at a university is a very consultative process. We’ve gone through that process and now we’re nearing the conclusion of it.”

Sarah Ruholl can be reached at 581-7942 or seruholl2@eiu.edu.