Eastern President Carol Surles will drop her proposed Board of Trustees regulation change concerning tenure for executive administrators.

“I have been informed by President Surles that she intends to withdraw the recommended changes to the BOT regulation,” said Lida Wall, interim vice president for academic affairs, in an e-mail to Faculty Senate Chair James Tidwell, journalism professor.

A recommendation passed at the Feb. 6 Faculty Senate meeting requested the BOT deny Surles’ proposal of changing a BOT regulation, but Faculty Senate Chair James Tidwell said he would no longer send the recommendation because of the withdrawal announcement by Surles.

The proposed change would have prohibited the offering of tenure to executive administrators, which, in effect, would not allow executive administrators to return to teaching at Eastern as a full tenured professor if their administrative positions were terminated.

The current regulation allows for tenure to be granted; however, the offering must be initiated by the president and approved by the related deans and departments in which the tenure is granted.

“I can understand where she is coming from, but the present policy works well. It does not guarantee tenure, but it also does not prevent it. It essentially leaves it up to negotiation,” Tidwell said before the senate passed the recommendation.

The proposed regulation change has been disputed by the

Faculty Senate as well as David Radavich, president of Eastern’s chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois, who both cited the perceived harm that would result to the university’s recruiting ability.

Currently, three of the four vice president positions are being filled by temporary administrators while new candidates are being sought.

“I think the regulation change is in response to something that occurred last year, but I’m not sure that was a typical problem which would warrant such a regulation change,” Radavich said.

Teshome Abebe, former vice president for academic affairs, was granted tenure in the economics department upon his hiring for the vice president position. Abebe is currently suing Surles on the basis of racial, sexual and ethnic discrimination. He is now a full tenured professor in Eastern’s economics department.

“When we appoint someone with tenure, we are making a very long-term commitment,” Surles said in a press release before the Faculty Senate passed its recommendation. “The practice of not rewarding tenure itself probably would not discourage applicants.”

Specifically, the proposed regulation change would have stated that employees in the position of provost, vice president, associate vice president and assistant vice president would not be able to be granted tenure, and they will be considered “at-will” employees but may be granted up to a three-year contract.