The search for a new provost continues

After a successful search for a new president, GC starts from square one with a  new provost in mind 

As Georgia College’s former provost Sandra Jordan settles into her new role away from GC, the university has begun the search process to fill the post. Student and faculty members have formed the Provost Search Committee to find a qualified replacement.

According to the GC website, the provost position is one of utmost importance.

While the president plays more of a role with off-campus relations and ensuring the university is well looked after abroad, the provost “represents the university’s academic endeavors with key constituents, including the Board of Regents and elected officials. In the president’s absence, the provost typically serves as the chief executive officer of the university.”

All academic colleges, departments and programs are responsible for reporting to the provost as well as the president.

Mary Jean Land, chair of the Department of Mass Communication, serves on the committee. She said there is a lot still to be determined in this search.

“We’re currently working on a schedule to bring applicants to campus in the coming months, but a lot could change as not much has been finalized,” Land said. “We’ve already held listing sessions and invited faculty to come in and say what they want in a provost, and we’re hoping to have more viable candidates by the first of the year. Anyone can be nominated and apply for the position.”

Myers McRae, the consulting agency hired by the university to help search for applicants, is currently accepting applications and reviewing them. Once a list of candidates is comprised and the university is happy with it, the applications will start to be reviewed until the “right” candidate is chosen.

Sarah Rose Remmes, Student Government Association secretary, serves as the student representative on the Provost Search Committee. She believes students should have more involvement and be more passionate about the search.

“I think a lot of students don’t quite understand the provost deals more with their day to day life than the president does,” Remmes said. “While the president deals more with relations our university has with others under the University System of Georgia, the provost is directly in charge of the ins and outs of the campus and our academic affairs. In later months, I would like to see just as many students involved in the provost search as we had during the presidential search.”

Some students, however, believe involving students in the search is somewhat unnecessary.

“I think it would be a sign of good faith for the university to allow students to actively participate in the search for a new provost, but I understand that faculty and staff is the primary focus for this search,” junior accounting major Brian Mills said. “In my opinion, the student voice is really more symbolic, and the faculty and staff already have a much better idea of what is needed in a provost and what the university is looking for. That being said, I think I’ll leave most of the provost search up to the professionals.”

Committee members like Land have promised they will keep students in the loop throughout the process of choosing a new provost.

“I welcome any student to come by my office or email me to discuss the process or what they would like to see in a provost,” Land said.

For more information on the provost position or the provost search, go to http://www.gcsu.edu/provostsearch/.

Posted by ConnorJohnson on Sep 20 2012. Filed under Lead stories, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.