There is no timeline for the university to begin searching for a permanent chancellor, and officials said the administrator who temporarily holds the campus’ top post could be there a while.

Interim Chancellor Sam Goldman has the full confidence of the Board of Trustees, so much that he might keep the job through the university’s accreditation process next year, said SIU spokesman Dave Gross. Officials from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools are expected to visit campus as part of the process in 2009.

“The sense with (SIU President Glenn Poshard) and the board is that they are very comfortable going through that process with Dr. Goldman at the helm,” Gross said.

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Goldman stepped down from his position on the board Friday to take the chancellor job. Goldman said he did not take part in the discussions that led to his appointment.

Gross said Poshard wanted to reevaluate the university’s last search process, the undertaking that ended in Poshard selecting former Chancellor Fernando Trevi’ntilde;o from a pool of four finalists. Poshard put Trevi’ntilde;o on paid leave March 12 and it was announced Friday Trevi’ntilde;o would be reassigned as a tenured professor in the School of Medicine.

The strengths and weaknesses of the last search will be considered when designing a new one, Gross said.

Trevi’ntilde;o held the chancellor position for nine months before he was put on leave. John Dunn, the last person to hold the post as a temporary job, was in place a little more than six months before Trevi’ntilde;o’s appointment.

Board chairman Roger Tedrick said Goldman might be easier to work with than other chancellors because he has been a member of SIU’s governing body.

“He knows both sides of it,” Tedrick said. “He knows what issues we face and what problems we struggle with and try to solve and he knows the campus.”

SIUC needs stability, Tedrick said, and the board believes Goldman can provide that.

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Goldman said the projected length of his tenure has no effect on the way he does his job. He said he has not discussed a timeline with Poshard, but Goldman said he would take on long-term and short-term initiatives regardless of when a new chancellor might take over.

“It’s really quite immaterial to me,” he said. “I’m ready to go in 10 minutes or I’m ready to stay 10 minutes longer.”

Goldman, 73, has said he has no interest in pursuing the permanent chancellor position. The former professor and dean retired from the College of Educational Administration and Higher Education in 2003.

“This is not a career move for me,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere. I don’t have any mountains to climb.”