The search for a new permanent provost will begin sometime after spring break, Acting Provost Kimo Ah Yun said.
“A search committee and external search firm will be identified in the upcoming weeks,” Ah Yun said in an email. “Listening sessions and the development of a positions profile will take place over the spring semester, with a candidate pool created this summer.”
Ah Yun did not comment on whether he will apply for the permanent position.
Ah Yun said it is the job of the provost to coordinate planning endeavors, cultivate learning experiences for students, ensure academic program quality and encourage new programs, and recruit a diverse student body and faculty. Some of the ongoing Provost initiatives are the Faculty Success Program, Faculty Mini-Grants for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and coming in 2020, there will be a Faculty Diversity Fellowship Program.
He did not comment on whether he will apply for the permanent position.
“The provost is also entrusted to uphold the university’s mission and core values. The provost has an extremely important role at the university,” Ah Yun said in an email.
Formerly dean of the College of Communication, Ah Yun was appointed acting provost when former Provost Daniel Myers stepped down Oct. 31. Myers took the role of provost and chief academic officer at American University Dec. 17.
Ah Yun said that while it would be ideal to have a new provost by the end of the fall 2019 semester, finding the right person is key.
“It is more important that we get this process right and identify the best candidate to help lead Marquette forward,” Ah Yun said in an email.
Ah Yun said it is the search committee’s job to develop a “position profile” for the new provost.
“The university is looking for an individual with stellar academic leadership experience who will be committed to Marquette’s Catholic, Jesuit mission,” Ah Yun said in an email.
The search committee will look for an academic leader who, in close partnership with University President Michael Lovell and Senior Vice President Joel Pogodzinski, will advance Beyond Boundaries.
Beyond Boundaries, the university’s strategic plan, integrates academic, physical and financial priorities and serves as a road map for Marquette’s capital projects during the next 10 to 20 years, according to the Beyond Boundaries website.
Ah Yun said that once a search committee is named, the information will be announced to the campus community.
University spokesperson, Chris Stolarski said the committee’s makeup will likely be weighted more heavily with faculty members since the provost is Marquette’s academic leader.
“While we can never ensure representation from every college, department or office on campus, we are diligent about identifying a search committee that comprises individuals from a wide range of areas,” Stolarski said in an email.
As the university searches for a new provost, it will also look to hire permanent deans for the Colleges of Arts & Sciences and Business Administration.
“All follow the search for the next provost so that he or she can be involved with those searches,” Ah Yun said in an email. “We have excellent acting deans in Drs. Sarah Feldner and Heather Hathaway, and we will name a highly qualified acting dean for business in the near future.”
Feldner, former associate dean of the College of Communication, was named acting dean of the College of Communication Nov. 9 after Ah Yun was appointed to provost. Hathaway, former associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Arts & Sciences, was named acting dean for the college Feb. 7, replacing former dean Rick Holz.
Former dean of the College of Business Administration Brian Till announced Feb. 11 he was taking a yearlong sabbatical starting May 19.
Hathaway said she is responsible for faculty oversight, fiscal management of college resources, troubleshooting unexpected problems and more. She also is working to uphold initiatives put into place by the previous dean.
“In the “acting” role, my goal is to maintain the initiatives begun by Dean Holz that are currently underway in the College and to work with the faculty, staff and other college administrators to keep us moving forward,” Hathaway said in an email. “Creating a sense of stability and continuity are important goals during any transition.”
At the dean level, one needs to view the college as a whole and see the college as a vital segment within the larger university, Hathaway said in an email.
Change is an integral and inescapable part of any living institution, Hathaway said in an email regarding Marquette’s administrative shifts.
“Higher education, nationally, is undergoing significant change and Marquette must necessarily follow suit,” Hathaway said in an email. “Our ultimate goal at MU, however, never changes: to provide a wholistic, excellent educational and spiritual foundation for MU grads to lead us ethically into the future.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Kimo Ah Yun said it would be ideal to have a new provost before the fall 2019 semester. In fact, Ah Yun said it would be ideal to have a new provost by the end of the fall 2019 semester. An earlier version of this story also stated that Beyond Boundaries is also known as the Campus Master Plan. In fact, Beyond Boundaries and the Campus Master Plan are different things. The Wire regrets these errors. A correction will be issued in the next print edition of the Marquette Tribune.
