SEVENTH STREAK Men’s basketball finishes 84-73 against Belmont Saturday, retaining its seventh straight win of the season. PAGE 8
SEMESTER PREP WORK A series of photos displays students readying themselves for the new semester. PAGE 5
Dai ly Eastern News
THE
W W W .D A I L YE A S TE R N N E W S. C O M
Monday, Jan. 12, 2015
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
Eastern announces 4 finalists for president By Stephanie Markham News Editor | @stephm202 The four finalists still vying to be Eastern’s next president will give open interviews with the campus this month, with the Board of Trustees set to make its decision by March 13. The presidential search advisory committee selected Margaret Madden, David Glassman, Sam Minner and Guiyou Huang as finalists, which Eastern announced via a press release Jan. 12. One of these finalists will replace Bill Perry, who has served as Eastern’s president since 2007 and revealed last March that he would not renew his contract after June 2015. The finalists will spend their individual interview days with multiple sessions, each including a faculty forum at 9:30 a.m., a staff forum at 10:30 a.m., a student forum at 1:30 p.m., a faculty and staff forum at 3 p.m., and an open campus and community forum at 4 p.m. in the Arcola/Tuscola Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Joseph Dively, the chair of the search committee and a member of the board, said the committee would collect feedback sheets at each interview session, which will play an important role in the final decision. “That’s very important data to get people’s reactions on what they thought were strengths, maybe weaknesses, observations, and we will go through every one of those feedback forms and it will be used to help finalize the committee’s report to the Board of Trustees,” he said. Dively said this process is similar to the previous presidential search, in which more than 500 feedback sheets were collected from the sessions. “Obviously in everybody’s estimation it was a very successful search in that it ended with President Perry as our president,” he said. Madden, the provost and vice president for academic affairs at State University of New York at Potsdam, will be the first to visit Eastern on Jan. 21. Madden has a doctorate and master’s degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Glassman, the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bradley University in Peoria, will be the second to visit Eastern on Jan. 22. Glassman has a doctorate and master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Minnesota. Minner, the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Radford University in Virginia, will be next to visit Eastern on Jan. 23. Minner has a doctorate in cognitive and behavioral disabilities from the University of Arizona, Tucson and a master’s degree in learning and behavior disorders as well as a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Guiyou Huang, senior vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Norwich University in Vermont, will be the last to visit Eastern on Jan. 28. Huang has a doctorate in English from Texas A&M University-College Station, a bachelor’s
Freezing temperatures caused pipes to burst in three residence halls over the weekend, including Stevenson Hall on Friday and Thomas
Students encouraged to apply for FAFSA By Luis Martinez Administration Editor| @DEN_News
GR APHIC BY K ATIE SMITH | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
degree from Qufu Normal University in China, and a graduate studies completion diploma in English from Beijing University. Dively said a board member would introduce the candidate at each session, make an opening statement and then open the floor for dialogue. “I envision them to be an opportunity for each candidate to provide an overview of their background, why they were interested in Eastern Illinois University, why they think it’s a right fit, and the majority of the session will be question and answer allowing them to interact with the various stakeholders that are there for the particular session,” he said. He said after all interview sessions have taken place, the committee members would take some time to compile the feedback forms, then meet again to prepare a report for the board including their own perceptions. Finally, the board will deliberate and make a final decision. The search committee met Dec. 19 to review reference calls the search consultant made on candidates who were targeted to be finalists, and the board met later that day for an update of the selected finalists, Dively said. Dively said the Korn Ferry consulting firm spent a great deal of time identifying position specifications unique to Eastern as well as finding applicants. “At this point the search consultant is there as an adviser, but really they won’t be here rep-
resented on campus when the finalists are here,” he said. “Their work for the most part is done at this point.” All finalists are vice presidents for academic affairs at their respective institutions, which Dively said was common factor among the applicants. “We had some from other disciplines within a university, but the vast majority were provosts,” he said. “So I think that’s quite typical.” He said the committee was also looking for diversity in background; for example, each comes from a different state. “We looked for (gender and ethnicity) in the overall pool as part of the charge to our search committee, but ultimately these candidates are coming here because we believe they’re absolutely qualified to be our next leader,” he said. Dively said he thinks the search committee has worked well together, and he is excited for the finalists to come to campus. “I really believe we are bringing a diverse, very strong pool of finalists to campus and I am very, very pleased with the work to date by the committee and with the help of our search consultant,” he said. Stephanie Markham can be reached at 581-2812 or samarkham@eiu.edu.
Pipes burst in 3 residence halls due to cold By Stephanie Markham News Editor | @stephm202
VOL. 99 | NO. 74
and Taylor halls on Saturday. Charleston temperatures reached a high of 10 degrees on Friday and 23 degrees on Saturday. In Stevenson Hall, an open window on the sixth floor caused the heater in a resident’s room to freeze, resulting in a burst heat pipe, said
Mark Hudson, director of Housing and Dining. Hudson said the incident occurred sometime during the day on Friday. He said he has not heard of any significant damages, and the pipe itself has been fixed.
PIPE BURST, page 6
With the start of the year, students are now able to start filing for FAFSA for the 20152016 school year. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid became available on Jan. 1. Students are encouraged to fill out the FAFSA early in order to become eligible for maximum financial aid. Over winter break, the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships sent an email to students talking about the FAFSA, including deadlines and available scholarships that students may be eligible for. According to the email, students wanting aid for Fall 2015, Spring 2016 or Summer 2016 must complete the 2015-2016 FAFSA by their last date of attendance or June 30, 2016, whichever is sooner. It also states that the 2014-2015 FAFSA, which applies to the Fall 2014, Spring 2015 and Summer 2015 semesters, may still be completed before June 30 of this year or the last date of the student’s attendance. However, in order for a student to receive the full benefits of filing the FAFSA, they should do so as early as possible. Carol Waldmann, interim director of financial aid, said students who apply later could potentially miss out on some of the federal funding they could receive. “It is very important that all students file the FAFSA early,” Waldmann said. “With limited federal, state and institutional funding, if a student files their FAFSA too late, they’re likely to miss out on funding that doesn’t have to be repaid.” This is especially true when it comes to firstyear students and their parents who are unfamiliar with the FAFSA process. “First-year students and their parents should file a FAFSA, as the FAFSA is the only way to determine if they are eligible for Pell Grants, other grants, need-based scholarships, Work Study, and student loans,” Waldmann said. “Filing the FAFSA is free so there is no reason not to file.” These funds are known as grants, and if students are able to meet certain requirements, then it is possible to receive this type of aid. One such type of grant is known as the Monetary Award Program (MAP). The MAP Grant is available to Illinois student attending Illinois schools. Like other types of grants, the MAP Grant does not have to be repaid; however, students would need to demonstrate financial need. The deadline in order to receive the MAP Grant is usually in February. “All institutions, including EIU, award financial aid on a first-come, first-serve basis,” Waldmann said. “Our funding from the federal government and our institutional funding is very limited,” Waldmann said. “The sooner a student files the FAFSA, the better chance they have of receiving a financial aid package that can help them afford a college education at EIU.” Students can log onto Eastern’s website to search for financial aid scholarships as well as other scholarships that Eastern has to offer. Luis Martinez can be reached at 581-2812 or lpmartinez@eiu.edu.