Bradley University Interim President Jonathan Michael says the school hopes to have a new president in place by the start of the next school year.
“We have put a committee together of trustees, faculty and a student rep, and will involve the community and the alumni in helping to have, you know, have input into selecting the new president,” he said.
Michael said the process has begun, with the university planning to host focus groups with the community and alumni to talk about what attributes they would like to see in the new president, adding the board of trustees is still formulating its vision for what to look for in the next leader.
“I'll just say that the next leader of Bradley University will have to be a visionary leader who can help bring the community together to work toward building a better university,” Michael said.
Former Bradley University President Stephen Standifird announced his resignation on May 31 after a tumultuous and relatively short tenure at the university.
Standifird announced in July 2023 the university was in a $13 million budget shortfall. Budget cuts last December saw the elimination of 61 academic positions. Fifteen other programs such as business law, religious studies and statistics are being phased out. Five other programs are no longer being offered as majors, but classes are still being offered.
The Bradley University Senate voted to pass a resolution of no confidence in Standiford over the handling of the cuts. Students and faculty also held a walkout to protest the cuts.
His resignation went into effect June 15, with Michael, who is the board of trustees chair, stepping in as interim president. He said the university's financial troubles will not be at the forefront of the selection process.
“I'm not sure how the financial blimp that we had will have that much, you know, impact on who's selected as a president,” Michael said. “It'll have an impact, but not as much as you might think.”
The Bradley University Senate also voted no confidence in Provost Walter Zakahi over the handling of the cut positions. Zakahi announced his retirement as provost and senior vice president for academicaAffairs in April; Daniel Moon is currently the interim provost.
Michael said Moon will remain in the position for the immediate future.
“We're not planning to go out to search for a permanent provost,” said Michael. “That'll be the responsibility of the new president. We believe that the new president should be able to select their permanent provost.”
For now, Michael said he's looking forward to the current school year.
“I think campus is bustling and, you know, it's a beautiful campus, and I'm getting out there and seeing students and faculty as much as I can,” he said, adding enrollment is his top priority for the remainder of his term as interim president.
“We're going to really work on enrollment and try to increase enrollment through all the various incoming students, graduate students, transfer students, online,” he said. “All hands on deck to help to foster that.”
Michael said officials have not seen enrollment numbers for this year yet, but they're anticipating they'll be similar to last year.
Bradley University's first-year undergraduate enrollment was about 870 students in Fall 2023, which was lower than anticipated. The university has about 5,400 total undergraduate and graduate students.
Illinois Central College announced in August an increase in enrollment for the fall semester. The community college had 8,008 students enrolled, a 5.1% increase from the previous year.
Michael said the Bradley administration is currently working on a recruiting plan to attract new students. Updated enrollment numbers should be available in the coming weeks following the university's fall census.
Michael said he also wants this school year to be more positive for students, faculty and staff.
“Working with the whole campus community to foster a more positive culture than what we've had here in the last couple of years,” he said.
