Although the Board of Trustees had originally planned to announce Eastern’s new president on April 29, a news release from the board stated it needed more time for “discussion” before announcing a new president.

The announcement from the Board of Trustees was read at Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs, and Faculty Senate Chair Bud Fischer, an associate biology professor who is on the search committee, both told the senate on Tuesday they had no knowledge of the BOT’s future plans and why they are not announcing the position.

On April 19, Eastern officials announced that contract negotiations were underway with one of the candidates.

On Tuesday when asked if that negotiation was still in the works, Vicki Woodard, director of media relations, said “discussions are ongoing.

“It’s one of those personnel issues where we can’t really say anything,” she said.

Board member and search committee chair Bob Manion was unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile, interim President Lou Hencken’s final day as president has not been decided. Hencken has filled the position this year since former President Carol Surles resigned to seek treatment for breast cancer.

The search began last semester when a committee was formed to review candidate applications.

On February 27 and 28, off-campus interviews were given for eight out of the 51 applicants. From there, the search committee narrowed the pool down to three finalists; Livingston Alexander, vice president for academic affairs at Kean University; Philip Conn, vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Tennesse-Knoxville; and John Cavanaugh, vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University on North Carolina-Wilmington.

All three of the candidates declined comment on the current situation and none of them said if they had been in contact with Eastern.

Alexander, the first to visit Eastern for interviews, boasted of his successes in minority recruitment and lobbying for funds at the federal level. At Kean, Alexander has worked with seven different unions and has vast experience in collective bargaining.

Conn was the next to interview. He stressed his ability to create and maintain strong relationships throughout the community and said he was successful in soliciting funds during his presidency at Dickinson State University in North Dakota.

The final candidate, Cavanaugh, vocalized the improvements in admission standards while he’s been at Wilmington. The average SAT scores rose there from 1097 to 1140, and minority applications increased 26 percent during his time there.