President Glenn Poshard has announced he will conclude his tenure May 1.

Poshard’s contract was set to expire June 30, when incoming SIU president Randy Dunn was to begin. The board unanimously approved the presidential transition allowing Dunn to begin May 1 during their meeting Thursday morning. Trustee chairman Randal Thomas said the board considered the date when it became clear Dunn was available.

“Dr. Poshard is an invaluable resource,” Thomas said. “But we will only have a legislature, a governor, a Board of Trustees, the chancellors and staff and students recognize one president on May 1, and that’s Dr. Dunn.”

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Poshard said while he loves the university and has spent years here, he wants to make sure he considers SIU’s best interests.

“Is it better that I hang on as president for another two months at the end of my career? Or that we give Dr. Dunn the opportunity to start his career here early?,” he said. “There’s no question about where that balance falls.”

Poshard will stay on as a presidential consultant, he said.

“Dr. Dunn is well qualified, but like most administrators he’s not been over a system,” Poshard said. “There’s real differences between the job  running a campus and the job running the system, and so I’ll be helping him in that respect.”

While Poshard said he will be available to help Dunn in any way possible, he has his own unfinished business.

“I have a lot of work of my own to do, with respect to finishing up the goals and everything that the board assigned me last year … I’m gonna be busy,” he said.

Poshard said SIU has been a part of his life, in one way or another, for more than 40 years, and his work as president would not be possible without his staff members.

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“I am either the luckiest guy in the world, or the most blessed,” he said.

Poshard’s final days come as the Board of Trustees continues to consider tuition and fees. While the trustees voted to push fee discussions until May to allow for more discussion, the board finalized a frozen tuition rate for Fiscal Year 2015.

Poshard recommended a 3 percent increase for SIU, while trustee Roger Herrin recommended the flat rate. Poshard’s proposal did not leave the finance committee, but he did not think the flat rate would cause additional staff cuts — because the new rate would affect freshman, it’s responsible for less than one million dollars of income, he said.

Karsten Burgstahler can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @kburgstahler_DE or by phone at 536-3311 ext. 254.