Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Brad Kleindl surprised members of the Faculty Senate Monday when he announced Dr. Brian Chapman was invited to join a pool of candidates for the VPAA position.

Chapman was the first candidate to withdraw his name from consideration last fall when candidates visited the campus, claiming Missouri Southern’s atmosphere is “just too poisoned to be successful.” The search was declared failed after another of the three candidates pulled out.

New candidates will visit in May and Kleindl said there is a “good chance” Chapman will come.

“Dr. [Bruce] Speck has had some conversations with him,” Kleindl said. “He actually received the highest evaluation from the committee at that time, and whether or not he will want to be in that pool, that’s between himself and that committee.”

Speck, the University president, is not on the search committee this time. Speck declined to comment to The Chart about why he only invited one of last semester’s three candidates back.

When Chapman visited Southern, he was faced with a lot of questions about a controversy he was involved in at University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Chapman told The Chart in a phone interview Tuesday he was considering applying for the position, but had not made a final decision yet.

Several Faculty Senators took issue with Chapman being invited while the two other candidates from last semester, Dr. Peter Johnstone of University of North Texas and Dr. Charles Cullum of Kuztown University in Pennsylvania, were not.

“I would find it certainly inappropriate to invite Chapman and not all other candidates that have applied,” said Faculty Senate President Roger Chelf.

Cullum was unable to be reached for comment. Johnstone could and told The Chart he was not considering reapplying.

Several senators voiced their concern that publicly inviting one candidate would discourage possible applicants from applying for the position. However, Kleindl said it was normal and not uncommon in job searches.

“You don’t just put an ad in the medium and hope people apply for that position,” he said. “It’s very common that you look at someone who’s viable for the position and invite them to apply for the job.”

When Chelf asked if it was okay to notify Johnstone about the opening, Kleindl said it was and anyone who knows a person qualified for the position is encouraged to contact them.

Kleindl said administrative positions differ from faculty positions in that they can change anytime, while a faculty member should begin or end their employment between semesters. Kleindl himself plans to go to a faculty position on Aug. 1 unless he gets a satisfactory job offer at another school.