The interim president of Illinois State University is weighing other employment options, including a possible chancellorship and executive vice presidency at an Indianapolis-based university.
An ISU spokesperson confirmed to WGLT that Aondover Tarhule is among the finalists for a position at what will eventually be Indiana University-Indianapolis. Tarhule was slated to appear at campus public engagement events in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Tarhule's interest in other employment possibilities comes nearly 10 months after he assumed the role of interim president at ISU, following the abrupt resignation of former president Terri Goss Kinzy in February.
Prior to that, Tarhule was provost and vice president of academic affairs since 2020. His agreement with ISU's governing body, the board of trustees, has him remaining interim president until June 30.
The position for which Tarhule is a finalist at the forthcoming Indiana University-Indianapolis campus, a reorganization of what is currently known as Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
For 53 years, both Indiana University, which has its flagship campus in Bloomington, and West Lafayette-based Purdue University, have jointly operated a campus in Indianapolis that offered degrees from both institutions, depending on a student's program of study.
After votes from both Purdue and IU trustees last year, that partnership is set to dissolve in July 2024 and each university will operate separate campuses and schools. That separation will lead to the creation of two new schools: Indiana University-Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis.
The position for which Tarhule is a finalist is a new one for the forthcoming IU campus, according to postings from search firm Issacson Miller. The position will be partly responsible for "defining and articulating its new identity as IU Indianapolis."
The chancellorship isn't the first Indiana job Tarhule has been a finalist for: documents from Terre Haute-based Indiana State University indicate he was a finalist for a dean position there in 2017.
Tarhule could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
ISU presidential search committee update
Meanwhile, ISU continues its search for a permanent president. A 29-member search committee of various university representatives is working alongside Georgia-based company Parker Executive Search (PES), and met for the first time on Oct. 31.
At a search committee meeting on Tuesday, PES president Laurie Wilder said the search firm plans to make presidential candidate information available to the search committee on Jan. 15.
Then, on Jan. 25, the search committee will meet in closed session to select around 10-12 people for first-round interviews that will take place in early February.
Wilder said the candidate pool is small, so far. The search firm uses a combination of advertisements and networking to find potential candidates; nominations of potential candidates from other people also are used to find candidates.
So far, Wilder said two people have submitted their materials to PES for consideration. Three people were "officially recommended for the position — meaning someone reached out to (PES) and said, 'Please contact this individual, they may have an interest,'" she said. Ten people have "indicated a level of interest" in the position, and wanted more information.
"Typically, your best candidates aren't developed until the very end of the search process," Wilder told the search committee on Tuesday. "It's a long road, especially at the very beginning when it's about getting that churn in the marketplace, making sure everyone is talking about the opportunity and they know it exists."
Wilder also said no one from ISU has nominated anyone as a potential candidate for the university's top job yet.
"Nominations on campus matter because they know the institution. They know what works, what doesn't work here," Wilder said. ISU's search committee is one that "is going to be vetting candidates, but it's also a recruitment committee. We want you to engage in that part of the process. I would hope that on [Dec. 11], when we come back, we've got some nominations that came from individuals that are a part of your constituency groups."
Wilder said PES expects the pool of candidates to grow as the process goes on, and the January application deadline grows closer. She told the search committee that no potential candidates have had any "massive concerns" about the university and that questions have centered on topics of faculty morale, university finance and union relationships.
How many finalists will make it to ISU's campus remains undetermined; Wilder said the hope is to have five.
Other ISU leadership roles pending permanent hires
ISU's top job isn't the only position in need of permanent leadership.
Vice President of Finance and Planning Dan Stephens is set to retire on Jan. 1 after six years with the university. An announcement from ISU on Oct. 6 said plans for interim leadership would be announced at a later date; those plans have not yet been publicized.
ISU's athletics department also is seeking a permanent leader, with current athletics director Jeri Beggs in the role in an interim capacity. Beggs has been in the role since May 1, after Kyle Brennan submitted a resignation on April 30.
