EIU Media Relations

EIU Search for VPBA Advances; Names of Finalists Released

Three individuals have been invited to participate in on-site visits as Eastern Illinois University moves forward in its search for the institution's next vice president for business affairs.

William V. Weber of Charleston, Patrick D. Kirby of Buda, Texas, and Donald Chrusciel of Ames, Iowa, have been invited to participate in on-site interviews during the month of February.

According to Robert Augustine, chair of the committee that conducted the national search, Eastern received 39 applications for the VPBA position. The post became available when Jeff Cooley, who served as vice president for business affairs since 1999, announced his Dec. 31, 2008, retirement.

The VPBA reports to the president and serves on the President's Council and as treasurer of Eastern's Board of Trustees. He/she is responsible for the supervision, coordination and administration of the Budget Office, Business Services, Information Technology Services, Human Resources, Facilities Planning and Management, Environmental Health and Safety, Records Management, and broad areas of service related to these units.

Each of the three candidates will be on Eastern's campus for a day-and-a-half. Open sessions (faculty, students and staff) will take place from 4 to 4:50 p.m. and community sessions (community, campus, EIU Foundation) will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. the first day of each candidate's visit. All open sessions will take place in Booth Library, Room 4440, unless otherwise noted.

Full candidate information and interview schedules may be accessed at http://www.eiu.edu/graduate/vpba/vpba-interview-schedules.pdf.

Candidate William V. Weber currently serves as associate vice president for academic affairs, director of Summer Sessions, and interim university budget director at EIU. He holds both his master's degree and a doctorate in economics and a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Weber has previous experience in administration as the associate dean of the College of Sciences and holds the rank of professor of economics at Eastern.

Weber will interview on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 11 and 12.

The second candidate, Patrick D. Kirby, currently serves as associate vice president for financial affairs at St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas. He holds a master's degree in business administration from New Hampshire College and a bachelor's degree in business from the State University of New York, Albany. Kirby has previous administrative experience that includes the position of chief budget officer at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo.; the director of Institutional Research and Budget Development at Salem State College, Salem, Mass.; and senior financial project manager for Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine.

Kirby will interview on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 16 and 17.

The final candidate, Donald Chrusciel, currently serves as associate director of Facilities Planning and Management at Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa. He holds a doctorate in industrial education and technology from Iowa State University; a master's degree in management information systems/operations management from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; a master's degree in business administration from California State University; and a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Michigan State University. Chrusciel has previous administrative experience as director of General Services and associate director of Facilities Planning and Management at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater.

Chrusciel will interview on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 23 and 24.