Future SIU President Randy Dunn is expected to leave Youngstown State University earlier than planned.

Harry Meshel, Youngstown Board of Trustees member, said Dr. Dunn will vacate his position in March, probably near the end of the month. Dunn’s original resignation was set for Aug. 16.

“From what I can see it’s an opportunity for both the school to move forward with the new president and give Dr. Dunn a little bit of an opportunity to acclimatize back home,” Meshel said. “It gives us an opportunity if we have our presidential choice earlier.”

Dunn said the Youngstown Board of Trustees has called a meeting for Wednesday to discuss his leave.

“The purpose of that meeting is to take action on an amendment to my employment contract,” Dunn said. “At this point it does look like we will get to agreement on a date at or very near the end of March when they will release me from my contract here at Youngstown State.”

Dunn said it is still undecided when he will begin as president of SIU and the date will be decided by the SIU Board of Trustees.

“My anticipation is that given President Poshard’s retirement of June 30, that my first day of work will be July 1,” he said. “Given the fact that my work here that I’m anticipating will be done at the end of the month, if there was any change in President Poshard’s wanting down plan I would certainly be available – but I don’t assume that at this point.”

Melissa Wasser, student representative on the Youngstown Board of Trustees, said while some faculty and staff agree with the early leave, a lot of students want to see him finish in August.

Meshel said there has been discussion of an early leave since Dunn announced his resignation Feb. 17.

Dunn said he and his wife, Ronda, will use the time between positions by establishing their home in southern Illinois.

Before receiving the position at SIU, Dunn served as president of Youngstown for seven months. He served as president of Murray State University before Youngstown from May 2006 to March 2013. The Board of Regents did not renew his contract at Murray by a 7-4 vote.

Dr. Cynthia Anderson served as Youngstown’s seventh president until she retired June 30, before hiring Dunn at the university. Wasser said Dunn was a definite choice during the presidential search.

“We were really looking for someone who had a dynamic personality, was really open and transparent, and willing to be an advocate for students and Dr. Dunn really did that,” Wasser, a senior studying political science and philosophy from McDonald, Ohio, said.

She said Youngstown was having budget and enrollment issues when Dunn was appointed as president.

Denise Dick, education reporter at the Vindicator, Youngstown’s local newspaper, said Dunn began under the gun.

“He started in July and I believe it was September announced some budget reductions, and those included some lay offs,” Dick said.

According to the Vindicator, Youngstown had a $6.6 million deficit as of September.

Dunn said three quarters through the fiscal year, the one-year budget reduction plan he created to help the deficit is working.

“It included some lay offs. We ended up dropping some outreach programs, really held back in terms of operational spending as well as travel,” Dunn said. “All of those things together got us our six and a half million and it to some degree was crisis management having to deal with it. But it seems as now we will get through the year with close to an even budget.”

Dunn said nine civil service staff members were laid off, but were all able to find new positions at the university before the notice period.

In order to improve recruitment, Youngstown reworked all their scholarships to create an achievement award, which will be in place next fall and changed areas where the university is recruiting, Dunn said.

“The idea really was to shake up how we were working enrollment at the university,” Dunn said. “I think the indicator so far is the applications for fall 2014 are significantly higher than what they were corresponding time a year ago.”

Dunn said universities should give potential students a reason to attend, and not predict enrollment numbers based on if the institution is close to home.

“At YSU, one of the things that I think was a problem is that for so many years it was just able to get its numbers by being the only name in town,” he said.

Dunn said he plans to apply those tactics at SIU as well.

“We need to affirmatively tell the story of what (SIU) can mean in terms of providing opportunity and preparing students for their lives and careers.”

Wasser said Dunn connected well with the campus and was always involved in the community, as was his wife. She said students felt confused and betrayed by the unexpected job search, but it was a position he could not miss.

Dunn will make $430,000 during his four-year contract at SIU compared to his Youngstown $375,000 contract, a $55,000 increase.

“I think as people watch the news and talk to people around campus, they realize it was a dream job and it was a better opportunity – maybe. He was able to go home,” she said.

Wasser said there are some Penguins who do not agree with his decision, and many community members took to social media to express their disappointment.

Jessie Tuscano at @jessietuscano, tweeted Feb. 17, “If #YSU President #Randydunnwants to leave, let him. I’d rather have someone be president who cares about the University. #Youngstown.”

Youngstown Social at @Ytownsocial, tweeted the next day, “Randy Dunn is the girlfriend that breaks up with you, but you force to still live with you for the next 6 mos becuz your lease isn’t up #YSU.”

George Clarke, a YSU senior studying interdisciplinary studies from Youngstown, said he is a fan of Dunn and does not blame him for leaving.

“The vibe was he was turning his back on Youngstown, that he didn’t really give us a try. A lot of people don’t understand he’s going to a better situation,” he said. “We don’t really do things that well at Youngstown State, the school itself is down in enrollment the past seven semesters – the area itself is not a great area.”

Meshel said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Ikram Khawajia could serve as interim president until the search to replace Dunn is complete.

Dick said the board met Wednesday and voted to use the same search firm used to find and hire Dunn.

She said the presidential search is transparent and open to the public, unlike the recent SIU search. Wasser said to her knowledge the board will meet again March 12.

Meshel said there are no definite candidates as of now, but Jim Tressel, executive president for student success at the University of Akron and former Ohio State University football coach, has been receiving much support to run for the position.

There has been speculation that Meshel will seek the presidential seat, but he said the position is not for him.

Luke Nozicka can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @LukeNozicka, or 536-3311 ext. 268.