Eastern Oregon University presidential search committee named
Nov. 15—LA GRANDE — The Eastern Oregon University Board of Trustees is a step closer to getting its search for a new president into high gear.
The board has named a 22-member presidential search committee to help it find a successor to Tom Insko, who stepped down in August. The search committee is headed by David Nelson, of Pendleton, a former member of the EOU Board of Trustees and a state senator from 1997 to 2013. Nelson served as chair of the board of trustees from 2015 through 2020.
The committee members will also include administrators, members of the faculty and classified staff, students, two current members of the board of trustees, three former members of the board of trustees and Portland State University President Stephen Percy. The state requires that each presidential search committee for state universities have a president of a public Oregon state university on its presidential search committees.
The EOU search committee was selected by Cheryl Martin, chair of the EOU Board of Trustees. Martin said that not everyone who wanted to serve on the search committee could be appointed. She said, though, that there will be many opportunities in the future for people to give public input on the selection process in the future.
Martin said she feels good about the chances of the search to go well.
"I know and trust we will find the right person for EOU," the board chair said at a meeting of the board of trustees on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
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The board of trustees will soon hire an executive search firm to assist with selecting a new president. EOU has received 11 requests for proposals from executive search firms and will select its finalists this week and hire a firm shortly thereafter, Martin said.
The board of trustees approved a resolution outlining how its search will be conducted in late September. The resolution states that the board's goal is to have a new president in place by the middle of next year.
"Ideally, we will have someone no later than July 2023," said Tim Seydel, Eastern's vice president for university advancement.
Plans for the board's search began being developed after Aug. 1 when Insko announced he would step down to take a position as president and chief executive officer of Collins, a wood products company based in Wilsonville. Insko served as EOU's president since July 2015.
Lara Moore, Eastern's vice chair for finance and administration, and Richard Chaves, who previously was the chair of Eastern's board of trustees, are now serving as Eastern's interim co-presidents. Moore is serving as EOU's internal interim president, and Chaves is the school's external interim president.
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Dick Mason is a reporter with The Observer. Contact him at 541-624-6016 or dmason@lagrandeobserver.com.
