The dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has received a proposal from the search committee that is conducting interviews for the chair of the English department.

But the contents of the committee’s research will stay within the two parties until the search is completed, said Doris Macdonald, interim chair of the English department.

“Searches like this are kept quite confidential. It’s just the nature of the process,” Macdonald said. Once a new chair has been hired, information will be easily attainable, she said.

The recommendation follows two weeks of visits and interviews of four candidates chosen from a pool of applicants in the fall, said Macdonald, who “wasn’t interested” in pursuing the permanent role.

All four visits consisted of meeting with various members of the department and faculty senate.

Interviewees then addressed an open forum where they gave an administrative presentation on their expertise. Comments by members of the department were then taken into consideration by the search committee before making their proposal to Frederick Kitterle, dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences.

Candidates included Deborah Holdstein of Governor State University, Steven Schneider of the University of Texas-Pan American, Catherine Gimelli Martin of the University of Memphis and Margaret Maurer of Colgate University.

The position of chair of the English department has been vacant since Heather Hardy left NIU in 2002. Since then, the position has been held on an interim basis twice; once by professor Bob Self from 2002-2003 and Macdonald ever since.

The current search began in May 2004 with the selection of a second search committee after a previous effort to find a suitor for the position was unsuccessful, English professor Jeffrey Johnson said.

Kitterle heads the present committee with Johnson; professor Betty Birner; Suzanne Coffield, director of Writers Workshop; associate professor Michael Day and Amy Levin, director of women’s studies, making up the rest.

While the searches have been ongoing, the interim’s purpose was to keep the program “maintained” at its present level, Macdonald said.

The program will continue to function at its current pace until the right candidate is selected and ready to work on July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, Kitterle said.

Though the department and college is eager to fill the position, they are not in a rush to “choose just anybody,” Kitterle said. “We’re looking for a person that can lead a complex department and has the skills to do so,” he said, highlighting “outstanding scholarly credentials and national recognition” as characteristics of the ideal chair.