Blog: News and updates from Illinois State University's presidential search
The four finalists to become Illinois State University's president will visit campus in February 2024. Each finalist will appear at one open forum, scheduled from 1:30-2:45 p.m. on Feb. 19, 22, 26 and 29. ISU says it will release the names of each finalist 24 hours before their scheduled open forum.
Follow this blog for the latest WGLT reporting about each public forum and the rest of the search process.
UC provost makes case for ISU presidency emphasizing servant leadership and civic responsibility in education
The final candidate to speak publicly about why he should be considered for Illinois State University’s presidency said he was surprised by how little funding the state allocates for its first public university.
Valerio Ferme said that discrepancy between ISU and other state higher ed institutions was one of at least two things that surprised him about the university. The other was in-state enrollment totals.
“92% of students are from the state of Illinois — that’s almost unheard of right now at many institutions … The other thing that surprised me, and perhaps this is one of the negatives, is how little the state contributes to the university. When I look at it, it's not small change,” Ferme said.
Ferme gave the comments during a forum at the Bone Student Center on Thursday afternoon. He is currently the provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Cincinnati. He joined UC in 2019 as the dean of its College of Arts and Sciences.
Ferme described himself as a “servant leader,” one who does not wish to be surrounded by so-called “yes people.”
“To me, my ‘why’ is how do I make the educational landscape better and how do I get people to buy into — as a culture — committing to making a difference?” he said. “With the position comes responsibility, (but) I think with the position comes a service to society. We’re not just an island, an ivory tower.”
Ferme also spoke about his leadership initiatives at the UC, including raising the base salary for the lowest paid staff in the College of Arts and Sciences in 2020 and appointing a faculty member as associate dean of inclusive excellence — all during a budget shortfall. Ferme also spoke about establishing an emergency fund for staff during the pandemic.
“You can imagine what the response was initially from some sources: ‘Wait a second, we have all of these budget gaps. What are you doing spending money on these things?’” Ferme said. “When I left for the provost position … our hiring practices had greatly increased our staffing and faculty representation in a variety of different areas.”
Ferme also said he supported exploring more credential and professional educational options at ISU, as well as cooperative opportunities with local employers. The UC, where Ferme is currently employed, says it “invented cooperative education more than 100 years ago." Ferme noted the colleges of engineering and art and architecture at UC house most of those opportunities.
“What can we do to get better relationships with these companies and say, ‘Hey, would you be willing to pilot this co-op experience?’” he said of ISU. “There’s a lot to be done here.”
Ferme is set to meet with ISU’s presidential search committee on Friday; each forum has been followed by candidate meetings with the 29-member committee.
On March 5, the full Board of Trustees is set to meet to deliberate the candidates in closed session.
No timeline has been set for announcing when a finalist has been chosen for the position.
A Cincinnati administrator is the last finalist in ISU presidential search
The University of Cincinnati’s (UC) provost and executive vice president for academic affairs is the final candidate announced in Illinois State University's ongoing search for a permanent president.
Valerio Ferme is the fourth and final candidate to be announced as under consideration. (He is also the second candidate to hail from Ohio; the third candidate, Elizabeth Mullenix, is the provost and executive vice president of Miami University about 45 minutes north of the city.)
Ferme has been provost at UC for three years but joined as its College of Arts and Sciences dean in 2019. As provost, Fereme oversees 12 colleges and a budget of over $1 billion, according to a CV. Also in that capacity, Ferme leads the Task Force on Building Community for Democracy, a newly formed group whose mission is to study then develop solutions for rising instances of antisemitism and Islamophobia on UC’s campus. In addition to various fundraising and student recruitment and retention goals, Freme highlighted an increase in embedded mental health professionals and more diverse mental health staff among his accomplishments as provost thus far.
Prior to joining UC, Ferme spent 19 years at the University of Colorado Boulder where he taught and eventually chaired the Department of French and Italian. Ferme has described himself as a “big proponent of the humanities”; as an undergraduate he studied biology and religious studies at Brown University before earning two master’s degrees in Italian studies and comparative literature at Indiana University and a Ph.D. at the University of Berkeley in California. He was also a Fulbright scholar based in Italy. His research interests have included 19th and 20th-century Italian literature, modernism and theinfluence of American cinema on facism in Italy.
Ferme became a divisional dean at CU Boulder in 2015 before joining Northern Arizona University as College of Arts and Letters dean in 2017 and UC in 2019.
The last candidate forum at the Bone Student Center on campus is slated for 1:30-2:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
ISU’s 29-member presidential search committee is in the process of reviewing feedback collected on each of the four candidates. Although the forums were the only public-facing events, each candidate has attended a number of on-campus meetings with faculty, staff and others.
The search committee has held periodic meetings following the candidate forums where candidates are evaluated in closed session
Another meeting is set for the morning of March 1.
'I'm not an alum but I feel like one': Former associate dean who got her start at ISU returns to campus to be considered for top job
A university administrator who got her start at Illinois State University says both her fine arts background and leadership roles at a different university have prepared her for a return to campus.
Elizabeth Reitz Mullenix is currently the provost and executive vice president at Miami University in Ohio — and a candidate for ISU’s open presidency.
“It’s a great honor to be a finalist for the presidency of a university I love so much. I’m not an alum, but I feel like one because I was here for 11 years and really had a wonderful start to my career,” Mullenix said during a public forum Monday afternoon. “I was fortunate to have a lot of administrative experience while I was still an assistant professor, so I really launched my 20-year career as an academic leader here at Illinois State.”
Mullenix has spent 16 years at Miami University, first as a theater department chair then as the dean of the university’s College of Creative Arts. She became provost and executive vice president in 2022. Mullenix got her start at ISU in the late 1990s, becoming an assistant professor before eventually rising to assistant department chair and associate dean of what is now the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts.
Mullenix said her background in fine arts has helped her hone fundraising skills, “something a college president needs to do a lot.” Mullenix’s research interests have included gender and feminist theory, racial politics and theater performance; her first book focused on theater in the antebellum South.
“As a theater person, I am a storyteller. So I think one of the strengths of a good fundraiser is that you need to know your school really well. You need to know all aspects of it so you can understand the needs and so that you can champion all of the wonderful aspects of the college,” Mullenix said, pointing to her experience raising more than $40 million as dean and ongoing work on a billion-dollar campaign at Miami University.
Mullenix also described herself as a “very social leader,” telling attendees Monday that as dean and provost, she supports having frequent events “to make sure that people are engaging.” Mullenix said in addition to meeting with department chairs shortly after becoming provost at Miami University, she organized a series of events aimed at bringing together departments or people who may not normally overlap.
“We tried to put like interests together, so we had [for example] a department chair from our business school with arts management and sports leadership and management together. …We had a wonderful program when I was dean where student actors in the theater department would go and watch student athletes because we were trying to raise consciousness about the similarities of those kinds of groups that maybe aren’t natural allies,” she said. “Knowing your community, listening and communicating well are all things that can cultivate good morale.”
As provost, Mullenix oversees — among others — Miami University’s College of Engineering and Computing, which she said has developed new programs aimed at future engineering needs. Mullenix said the university developed new degree tracks in robotics engineering and climate engineering and has its eye on a program dedicated to artificial intelligence.
Mullenix is the second dean to be announced as a finalist for ISU’s presidency; Donald Easton-Brooks, a dean at the University of Nevada, Reno, is also being considered for the position. Mullenix is the only other candidate so far besides interim president Aondover Tarhule to have a tie to ISU.
A fourth and final candidate is expected to be announced Wednesday.
Former ISU dean, professor among finalists for presidency
A former Illinois State University professor, associate dean and department chair is in the running for the university’s presidency.
Elizabeth Reitz Mullenix is currently the provost and executive vice president at Miami University in Ohio. She’s the third-announced candidate of four who are being considered for ISU’s top job.
Mullenix earned both a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before coming to ISU to teach theater in 1995. She was the festival dramaturg for the ISU-led Illinois Shakespeare Festival from 1996-1997. Mullenix eventually became an associate department chair and an associate dean of what is now the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts. She also was a program review coordinator for the Illinois Board of Higher education in 1999.
She joined Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 2006, where she chaired the theater department for seven years and was the Dean of the university’s College of Creative Arts for nine years. In 2022, Mullenix became the university’s provost and executive vice president.
A cultural historian, Mullenix’s work has included focuses on antebellum theater and performance, gender and feminist theory and race relations in America. While dean at Miami University’s College of Creative Arts, she established the first standing committed focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and created the first strategic plan for such measures within the college.
As provost, Mullenix oversees several colleges within Miami University, including business, arts and sciences, engineering and education health. Among her cited accomplishments is the adaptation of “budget roadshows” for faculty and staff, a practice aimed at bringing greater transparency to the university’s $350 million academic budget.
Mullenix has also sat on several boards and committees, including the Richmond Shakespeare Festival, Miami University’s promotion and tenure committee, as well as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. She is also currently working on a second book, “Staging Stowe: Abolitionist Theatre and the Politics of Slavery.”
Mullenix is scheduled to give a brief presentation at a public forum on Monday afternoon. The presentation will start at 1:30 p.m. at the Bone Student Center on campus and will be followed with a question-and-answer session.
Last week, ISU announced interim president Aondover Tarhule and University of Nevada, Reno, dean Donald Easton-Brooks as the first two candidates seeking the open presidency job.
A fourth and final candidate is expected to be announced Wednesday, ahead of another public forum on Thursday afternoon.
UNR dean says Illinois State should prepare to be a 'Next Gen' university
The second person to make his case for Illinois State University’s presidency said the institution is poised to become a “next gen[eration]” institution under the right leadership.
Donald Easton-Brooks, currently a dean at the University of Nevada, Reno, told attendees of a public forum Thursday afternoon that 15 years of higher education leadership make him the best fit for the job.
“People ask me why I’m thinking about — why I’m interested in the presidency here,” he said. “I think the opportunity is here. I think the opportunity to be the next gen university is here. I think the intentionality, the purpose and the desire to be what we need for our community, research and engaging with our students is here.”
Easton-Brooks outlined a series of successes in his career that he said made him suited for the responsibilities of ISU’s presidency, including experience in crisis management, budget development and management, and program development for both university students and employees.
Easton-Brooks is an administrator and researcher known for his work focused on issues of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility; among the most visible of his works are two programs he helped establish at universities in Oregon and South Dakota to diversify the ranks of educators in both states.
He has also helped develop a number of precollege programs that increase dual-credit options for high school students; in his current role at UNR, Easton-Brooks said around 400 students a year participate in a similar arrangement, upping the likelihood that they will attend college after graduation.
“I was a student athlete. I was a scholarship student. I was a student on probation. I was a student that had to work. I was a student with no support from my family. So to me, it’s about how do I help that student be successful — on top of helping other students who might have these barriers be successful?” he said.
Easton-Brooks emphasized his presidency would focus on enhancing the “Redbird experience” for both students and staff at the university.
“Student success is more than just students getting a degree,” he said. “It is about the wellbeing of students and how we are engaging with the wellbeing of students. The student experience is no longer about just getting to college — it’s about growth and development, their health.”
Easton-Brooks also outlined a series of initiatives he led that enhanced or fleshed out ongoing research at other universities. He said he believes a forthcoming change to how the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education ranks colleges and universities could be good news for ISU, which has maintained a relatively flat research profile for some time.
“As we think about the type of research that we do, I think we have to think critically about research and scholarship and practice. Our research and scholarship has to be relevant — that means it’s something that we can reproduce and practice in the field. Oftentimes we think of research for publications: We need to think of research as a way of impact and movement,” Easton-Brooks said.
Two more people will make their pitch for ISU’s top job next week. Their names will be announced about a day before their scheduled appearances at forums on Monday and Thursday afternoon.
University of Nevada, Reno dean among ISU presidential finalists
A researcher and leader whose work has included particular emphasis on diversity, access and inclusion efforts in higher education is the second finalist in Illinois State University's search for a new president.
Donald Easton-Brooks, currently dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), is the second of four candidates announced by ISU.
According to a CV released by ISU, Easton-Brooks has 25 years of experience, including 15 years of leadership, in higher education, including at the University of North Texas-Denton, the University of Connecticut, Eastern Oregon University and the University of South Dakota.
On his website, Easton-Brooks describes himself as best known for his work as an "award-winning author, leader, researcher and advocate in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion and culturally responsive practices."
Easton-Brooks led efforts to create pathway programs aimed at diversifying the ranks of teachers in both Oregon and South Dakota by encouraging diverse groups of students to become teachers. He also the development of other pre-college academic enrichment programs that are aimed at bringing marginalized students into dual-credit programs at community colleges.
His research has used statistics to examine the relationship between educational policies and student outcomes; he has been featured in or the author of more than 100 scholarship articles on related topics. Among his recent publications is an award-winning book exploring "ethnic matching," which pairs students of color with teachers of the same race for better outcomes. His scholarship in this area has been cited in federal education policy as well as education policy in other countries, including New Zealand, Germany and some African countries.
Easton-Brooks has also delivered presentations on managing funding in higher education, including alternative sources to grant funding. He has secured around $5 million for his own research and, according to his CV, manages a budget of around $40 million in his current position.
He has also chaired a search for UNR engineering college dean as well as a new athletic director.
Easton-Brooks is originally from Texas and attended the University of Texas at El Paso on a football scholarship; he transferred to Greenville University where he won all-conference honors as a linebacker and cornerback. He was the first Black football player to be inducted into that university's Athletics Hall of Fame.
Easton-Brooks will lead a public forum this Thursday at the Bone Student Center from 1:30-2:45 p.m. He'll deliver a presentation before a question-and-answer session opens for attendees.
Two other forums — and finalists — are set for next week. They're scheduled for Monday and Thursday afternoons, each from 1:30-2:45 p.m.
'I feel ready to go': ISU interim president makes his pitch for the permanent job
Illinois State University’s interim president didn’t mince words Monday as he pitched himself as the best candidate for the university’s top job.
During a packed public forum at the Bone Student Center on Monday afternoon, Aondover Tarhule told the audience that, essentially, he’s already been ISU’s president for more than a year.
“I feel the training period is over,” Tarhule said. “I’ve learned a lot of things during this time and I feel ready to go — if you’ll give me the opportunity.”
Tarhule pitched himself to the public in what was the first of a series of public forums aimed at acquainting community members with the four finalists hoping to become ISU’s 21st president.
A second forum is set for Thursday afternoon; ISU plans to release the name of the candidate and related information about a day in advance.
Tarhule used Monday’s speaking opportunity to document his leadership at ISU, citing the equity-focused College of Engineering, the School of Creative Technologies at Wonsook College of Fine Arts and a new, expanded simulation lab at Mennonite College of Nursing as among the most visible of his accomplishments.
Tarhule said he has led a number of administrative efforts as well, including the hiring of additional academic advisors and raises for that position; dedicating additional funding to ISU’s then-underfunded Graduate School; prioritizing marketing and branding to reach more prospective students; and setting aside more than $3 million to stimulate faculty research projects.
“For me, personally, I think where the university is and against the challenges that it’s working on is a very strong alignment between those and my strengths and passions,” he said. “My strength and passion is strategic thinking, change management: How do you get an organization from A to B? This is something I have done throughout my career.”
In mentioning his appointment as interim president last February, Tarhule said it has provided an opportunity to intimately know ISU’s finances — a crucial point of management ahead of a looming “enrollment cliff” in 2026, when the number of graduating high schoolers is expected to steeply drop.
“Universities are experiencing a lot of disruptors and stressors and they are all going to have to change — that’s not an option,” Tarhule said. “The universities that are able to innovate are going to come out as winners; those that can’t are going to lose. The biggest opportunity, in my mind, for the next president of Illinois State, is to keep Illinois State in the ‘winning’ column.”
Some members of the public chose to ask Tarhule questions following his presentation; English doctoral candidate Steven Lazarov asked how things would change materially for graduate student workers if Tarhule assumed the role of president. ISU’s Graduate Workers Union (GWU) is currently negotiating a new contract with the university; members have held rallies in recent months citing ISU’s “poverty wages.”
Tarhule said the university is working on bolstering mental health resources available to students and said he sat on a commission for equity funding for universities — ISU, historically, has received less funding than other public universities in the state.
“New money has today become available and grants are distributed to universities using this new funding formula, and I think we will fare reasonably well in that,” Tarhule said. “So I hope and pray that that is accepted and is funded — that could make conditions for all of us at the university much better.”
Hired in 2020, Tarhule was first the university’s vice president of academic affairs and provost. After then-president Terri Goss Kinzy resigned in February 2023, Tarhule was appointed to the role of interim president by the Board of Trustees.
The BOT tasked a special 29-member search committee late last year with leading the search for ISU’s next, permanent president. That committee has been working alongside Atlanta-based Parker Executive Search to find candidates since October. Finalists were announced earlier this month, though they were not named.
The second finalist for ISU’s presidency will hold a forum this Thursday afternoon, also at the Bone Student Center.
ISU interim president Aondover Tarhule among presidential finalists
A national search for the next president of Illinois State University has yielded at least one candidate already well-known to the community.
Interim president Aondover Tarhule is the first of four finalists to be announced by the university ahead of a series of public forums that begin this week. He will give a short presentation beginning at 1:30 in the Old Main Room at the Bone Student Center on Monday. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation; the forums are open to the public.
Tarhule, hired in 2020 as ISU’s provost and vice president of academic affairs, has been interim president since February 2023, after Terri Goss Kinzy resigned a little less than two years into an expected four-year term as the university’s 20th president.
ISU's Board of Trustees appointed him to the job, with chair Kathy Bohn saying at the time that Tarhule had been selected because the BOT felt he "would lead the university forward."
Before assuming the role of interim president, Tarhule played led university efforts in getting approval to develop a new equity-focused College of Engineering and a new School of Creative Technologies within the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts.
According to a CV and university biography, Tarhule also led efforts to secure the approval of an expansion of the Mennonite College of Nursing’s simulation lab, as well as over $6 million in funding for an expansion of that college in Springfield alongside Memorial Health.
He also played a significant role in getting differential tuition — tuition determined in part by program costs and demand — approved by ISU’s Board of Trustees recently. That change affects degrees within the College of Business and forthcoming College of Engineering, as well as Mennonite College of Nursing. Cybersecurity and computer science programs are also included in the differential tuition model.
During his tenure as interim president, Tarhule has overseen a number of interim leadership appointments across the university. In 2023, Tarhule appointed ISU marketing professor and NCAA Division 1 board member Jeri Beggs as interim athletics department director following Kyle Brennan’s resignation. ISU also currently has an interim vice president of finance and planning, as well as an interim chief equity and inclusion officer, awaiting permanent appointments.
His tenure has also included overseeing a slight uptick in tuition costs overall — 1.9% to accountfor inflation — and the university adapting to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that dismantled affirmative action.
In his CV and in interviews, Tarhule noted that "holistic" admissions process that accounts for multiple factors in student applications — essays, GPAs, test scores, etc. — had positioned the university to continue its progress in enrolling a diverse group of students.
In 2023, ISU enrolled more freshmen than it had since 1986, and 41% of incoming students were from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds. In his CV, Tarhule noted a 3% increase in faculty diversity that same year; Tarhule led the development of a multiyear plan to diversify faculty that the university put $4.5 million toward beginning in 2022.
Prior to joining ISU, Tarhule held leadership roles at Binghamton University in New York and the University of Oklahoma. His research interests have included focuses on the impact of climate change on communities vulnerable to drought or water scarcity. In addition to sitting on several boards domestically, Tarhule worked as a consultant for the World Bank, focusing on climate risk assessment of the Niger River Basin.
ISU presidential candidates pool narrowed to 4 finalists
Four finalists for the top job at Illinois State University are slated for a series of public forums on campus later this month, pending final approval from the board of trustees.
ISU's governing body will vote during a regularly scheduled meeting Friday on whether to approve the slate of finalists presented by the 29-member presidential search committee.
That committee spent three days last week interviewing 11 semi-finalists in closed session meetings, narrowing the pool down to five people before one candidate withdrew from the process for personal reasons.
Forums for each of the final four candidates have been scheduled to run from 1:30-2:45 p.m. on Feb. 19, 22, 26 and 29 in the Old Main Room of the Bone Student Center.
The university plans to publicize the candidates' names and related information — curricula vitae, or CVs, and biographies — 24 hours before the candidate is scheduled to appear for a forum. That information will be available via a dedicated page on ISU's website.