MACOMB (WGEM) -- The Western Illinois University Board of Trustees announced on Wednesday that it will be meeting to vote on the selection of Guiyou Huang as WIU's 12th president on Monday.
Huang is the current president of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
The board announced the special meeting will take place in the University Union Capitol Room, with social distance measures in place, and via Zoom for trustees who cannot attend in person.
To ensure compliance with the Open Meetings Act, the meeting will be live-streamed on WIU's YouTube Channel, as the on-campus meeting location is not open to the public due to social gathering protocols and social distancing measures.
The board reported that it met in closed session last Thursday to interview six candidates and discuss the presidential search committee's report.
Other finalists included Martin Abraham, WIU interim president; Bahman Ghorashi, former provost and vice president for academic affairs, Tennessee Tech University; Cady Short-Thompson, provost, Hope College; Steve Michael, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles; and Michael Shonrock, dean of faculty, Center for Leadership Development, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Washington, D.C.
WIU's previous president, Jack Thomas resigned in June of last year following a call from a group that represents the alumni at WIU for him to do so.
After Thomas' resignation, the Board voted that incoming Provost and Academic Vice President Martin Abraham would serve as Western’s temporary president until an longer-term interim president is appointed.
Abraham released the following statement regarding the boards decision on Wednesday.
Dear University Community,
On Monday, November 9, I was informed by the search consultants supporting the presidential search that the Board had selected one of the other finalists to be the 12th president of Western Illinois University.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have been engaged with me during my 16 months as acting and interim president. I did not come to Western seeking this role. When I took this position, I knew that the selection of the next president was ultimately the Board's decision. I have tried to be responsive to the needs of the faculty, staff, students and alumni in providing the best service to the University that I could, and representing your interests to the Board.
In August 2019, I stated my agenda, and can honestly look at what we accomplished against that agenda with great pride and satisfaction. We achieved the first increases in new freshmen enrollment and new overall enrollment in a decade. We achieved the highest one-year retention in roughly 15 years. We finished Fiscal Year 2020 with a surplus of over $2 million. We made progress on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We established a strategic position statement to support growth of our Quad Cities campus. And, we accomplished all of this in the midst of a global pandemic that fundamentally altered the nature of our university.
I did not achieve this on my own, rather I have been fortunate to have a great team of faculty, staff, and administrators who helped guide our work. I want to thank all of the faculty and staff who have contributed to our success over the past 16 months. And while I know how important all of the contributions have been, I especially want to thank those on my executive leadership team for all of the time they have spent with me sorting through the many challenges we faced on a daily basis. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my staff in the President's Office, Jackie and Ruth, who have made it a pleasure to come to the office each day.
Best wishes for a successful future.
Martin Abraham
Interim President
In March of last year, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker replaced the entire board of trustees with seven new members. Pritzker stated the new board would focus its efforts on revitalizing WIU’s student recruitment and outreach efforts, focusing investments on core programs, burnishing the university’s reputation and brand throughout the state, and strengthening relationships with its surrounding communities.
In July of last year Gov. J.B. Pritzker removed two of those members Nick Padgett and Jackie Thompson without stating a specific reason, but issued a statement saying it was in the best interest of WIU to go in a different direction.
They were replaced in September 2019 with Carin Stutz and Mark Twomey.
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