Michael Renk, the first of five candidates for the vice president for business affairs position, will be on campus today for interviews.

“We want as much feedback as we can get because the viewpoint of the campus is very important to the search committee,” said Ebrahim Karbassioon, chair of the vice president for business affairs search committee.

Karbassioon said faculty and students are able to attend a session that will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Effingham Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, or they can attend a later session from 7 to 8 p.m., also in the Effingham Room.

“We need feedback from all constituents. It is valuable,” Karbassioon said.

Renk is currently the vice president of administrative affairs at North Dakota State College of Science.

Karbassioon said that position is “comparable” to our business affairs position, depending on the structure of the college.

Prior to his current position, Renk was director of fiscal affairs and facilities at Kansas State University for six years and prior to that he served as controller and budget officer for Kansas College of Technology.

Before Renk’s introduction into higher education, he worked in aviation as a program engineer for Boeing Airplane Company in Kansas.

Renk possesses an MBA from Kansas Weslyan University, which he received in 1997.

The next vice president for business affairs candidate scheduled for an on-campus interview is Jeff Cooley. Eastern’s current acting vice president for business affairs, Cooley will interview on April 19.

After the on-campus interviews are completed the search committee will send forward recommendations to Eastern President Carol Surles, who will make the final decision.