For the next month, the Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences will be interviewing the five final candidates to fill its current vacant dean position.

The candidates include: Jeffrey W. Steagall,from the University of North Florida,

Jeffrey McNabb,from Indiana State, Mahyar Izadi,from Eastern, Ronald D. McNeil,from the University of Illinois-Springfield, and James E. Payne,from Illinois State.

However, the road to this final round of interviews has not been a short one. The national search began in October with advertising for the position in such venues as the magazine Chronicle of Higher Education, said Mary Anne Hanner, dean of the College of Sciences.

The dean search committee, chaired by Hanner, is responsible for the application and interview process. The candidates must have met the standard set by the committee and the university.

The new dean should: “encourage creativity, innovation, scholarship, and interaction among faculty; and foster diversity among faculty and students,” according to the listed qualifications set by the committee.

The dean search committee is comprised of two representatives from every school within the college, in addition to one student representative and one representative from the military science department.

By November, the college had received 33 applicants for the position.

After narrowing the search down to 10 candidates, phone interviews with the applicants were conducted by the committee.

“It’s about reaching a consensus,” Hanner said. “The committee comes together with a lot of respect for one another and their opinions.”

After further interviewing and reviewing of applications was conducted, the committee narrowed down the applicant pool to five final candidates.

These candidates will be visiting Eastern for their final interviews.

“We’ll be interviewing these five candidates over the next three to four weeks,” Hanner said.

After these final interviews, the summations and conclusions of the committee will be given to Blair Lord, the vice president for academic affairs, who will make the final decision.

The chosen candidate will begin the position on July 1.

“We value the personal relationship with students, integrative learning, academic excellence, and high quality teaching,” Hanner said.

Steagall, the first candidate, will interview today.

Mel Boydston can be reached at 581-7942 or mmboydston@eiu.edu