EIU Media Relations

EIU Board of Trustees moves to renew president’s contract

Board approves two-year contract extension with Glassman through May 2022

(Charleston, IL) – At today’s regular meeting of the Eastern Illinois University Board of Trustees, EIU’s board voted to approve a proposal to extend the contract of university president Dr. David Glassman through May 31, 2022.

Glassman took office as EIU’s 12^th president beginning in 2015 under a five-year contract. In his initial five years as EIU’s president, Glassman’s leadership has proven instrumental in reinforcing the university’s reputation for student success and organizational achievement. At the highest level, Glassman’s guidance has resulted in several key EIU accomplishments, including:

• Navigating the university through an unprecedented two-year state budget impasse from 2015-17 by recalibrating organizational priorities and rightsizing the institution to maximize academic and operational efficiencies while reaching and maintaining a balanced budget;
• Countering a prevailing statewide trend of declining higher education enrollment by increasing EIU’s cumulative headcount 11 percent from fall 2017 to fall 2019, with additional enrollment increases anticipated for the future;
• Initiating a long-term strategic vitalization plan that has galvanized university programs, services and partnerships to enhance student, graduate and community outcomes;
• Reinforcing EIU’s reputation for excellence throughout Illinois and the broader Midwestern region through deliberate, dedicated and dynamic marketing and communication strategies.
• Maintaining or enhancing EIU’s status in several primary areas, including as one of the highest-ranked regional public university in the Midwest, EIU’s reputation for safety and security, its standing as one of the most affordable institutions of higher education in the state, and for its diverse and dynamic assortment of quality academic programming.

Additionally, Glassman’s leadership has led to successful contract renegotiations with EIU’s various faculty and staff bargaining units; exclusive community-supported scholarship opportunities for high-achieving and need-based east-central Illinois students; enhanced university stability and governance via more permanent administrative assignments; and creating robust, impactful relationships with local and regional community and legislative leaders.

The approved extension also will increase Glassman’s salary to approximately $325,000—an adjustment equating to 10 percent of his previously contracted salary. The adjustment brings the president’s salary nearer to current market levels, yet remains appreciably below the average range for currently serving Illinois public university presidents. The median salary for the top leadership position amongst peer universities is $375,000.

The EIU president’s performance is assessed annually by EIU’s board. Dr. Glassman’s most recent appraisal, completed in July 2019, cites the board’s ongoing confidence in his leadership, and in the successful achievement of a variety of mutually sanctioned university goals.

“Our approval of this new contract is a direct result of the confidence EIU’s board continues to place in Dr. Glassman as the leader of this exceptional university,” said Barb Baurer, chair of EIU’s board of trustees. “His commitment to EIU’s success has been vital to enhancing EIU’s financial position, growing our reputation for excellence, and maintaining a positive future trajectory. Our vote today reflects a conscious and confident continuity of Dr. Glassman’s exceptional leadership, and his dedication to ensuring the ongoing fiscal stewardship of the university as a whole.”

“I am proud of what our university community has been able to accomplish together over the past five years,” Glassman said. “While it is often the president who receives credit for a university’s successes, it truly is a collaborative effort driven by the diversity and passion of our broader EIU Family. I’d like to thank the board for their vote of confidence in my leadership today, and I also wish to thank the entire EIU team for supporting each other in our relentless pursuit of excellence.”

“It’s important to emphasize that Dr. Glassman did not request a salary increase, nor did he make a salary increase a condition of his contract renewal,” said Josh Reinhart, EIU’s public information coordinator. “The increase was a board decision driven by the president’s performance and by the current employment market. In addition, Dr. Glassman’s contract contains no severance clause, no bonus provisions, and no additional retirement payments, which is a unique arrangement in today’s higher education climate. Such an agreement demonstrates a good-faith relationship between EIU’s board and the president, and caters to the university’s best and most long-term interests.”

Glassman brought a wealth of private and public higher education experience to EIU’s top position. He was a tenured faculty member and associate dean and chair of the Anthropology Department at Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas), in San Marcos from 1985-2004. He continued his professorship while serving as dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville between 2004-10. Prior to accepting the EIU presidency, Glassman served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Bradley University in Peoria. He earned master’s and doctorate degrees in anthropology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota.

For more information about EIU, or to learn more about its growing assortment of programs and services, visit the university’s website at www.eiu.edu, or call EIU’s public information office at (217) 581-7400.