By Dick Mason

Observer Staff Writer

It is an ambitious time line, but Richard Jarvis, chancellor of the Oregon University System, is convinced it can be met.

Jarvis hopes to have Eastern Oregon University's next president named by early November.

He wants to have a 15-member presidential search committee named by late April, with finalists selected in September and interviews conducted in October.

Jarvis announced his time-line during a visit to EOU on Friday. EOU is seeking a successor to Phil Creighton, who will leave in July to become president of Pacific University in Forest Grove. Creighton is completing his fifth year as EOU's president.

Jarvis wants the next EOU president to take over officially on Jan. 1. The chancellor said his top two priorities are finding new presidents for EOU and Oregon State University, where Paul Risser left late last year.

Jarvis said the most important people in his professional life are the seven presidents in the Oregon University System.

"My headache level depends a great deal on my seven presidents. This (the EOU presidential search) is not something I take at all casually,'' he said.

EOU will be directed by an interim president when Creighton leaves until the new president is named. Jarvis hopes to name an interim president by the third week of April. The selection will have to be approved by the State Board of Higher Education.

Jarvis wants the interim president to be in La Grande by mid-June to allow for an overlap between the time he or she starts and Creighton leaves.

The chancellor wants the interim to promise that he or she will not be a candidate for EOU's presidency. Attracting applicants will be harder if the interim is a candidate.

"It (having the interim as a candidate) weakens the field,'' Jarvis said.

Jarvis said that it is harder for an interim president to do his or her job when the individual is a candidate. Jarvis said people second guess the actions of an interim who in the running for the permanent presidency. Critics will claim that decisions made by the interim leader are meant to improve his or her chances of being selected president.

"The interim does not have time for second guessing,'' Jarvis said.

Jarvis wants EOU's interim president to be selected by late next month. He will recommend one person to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education.

The chancellor said the interim could come from inside or outside EOU. It is likely the individual will be someone who is at Eastern now, Jarvis said.

"I would expect that a good candidate will emerge from within the university,'' Jarvis said.

Jarvis expects the interim president to be in full control. He doesn't want the interim to take the position that there are things he or she cannot do.

"I don't want someone saying ‘I can't do this because I'm just an interim,' '' Jarvis said. "You are not ‘just an interim.' ''

Jarvis met with about 200 people during his visit at EOU.

The chancellor said he believes that EOU will attract a strong field of candidates for its permanent presidency despite the financial problems the state is facing. People realize that the coming biennium will be tough but that the state's financial situation will eventually improve, Jarvis said.

EOU is in a good position to draw quality applicants because its enrollment and student retention are strong and it has a high quality faculty, Jarvis said. EOU's enrollment has jumped at least 6.61 percent each of the last four years. Last fall enrollment was up 15.9 percent.

"This is a gem. There are many people who will be pleased and proud to be Eastern's president,'' Jarvis said.

The chancellor's office is seeking nominations for EOU's interim president position and its presidential search committee. Nominations and suggestions can be e-mailed to virginia_thompson@ous.edu over the next month.