UConn to Hold Open Meetings as Part of Provost Search

This article was originally published on the UConn Today Web site on November 15, 2012.

By: Stephanie Reitz

The University is planning open town hall forums in the coming weeks as part of its search for a new provost and executive vice president.

UConn started accepting applications in late August for the position, and expects to hold up to four open town hall forums to allow the community to learn more about the finalists.

The provost serves as the second in command and day-to-day leader for much of the institution, working in partnership with President Susan Herbst and her cabinet.

The provost is responsible for all academic initiatives and programs at UConn, and has a wide scope of responsibilities that range from management of academic personnel to overseeing institutional research, public engagement, university libraries, enrollment and student success initiatives, and many other duties.

We seek an extraordinary provost who will help us to push UConn into the very top tier of international research universities.

The open town hall forums, held in Storrs, will be streamed live to all campuses. Exact dates have not yet been set and will depend on the finalists’ availability, but some days and times have been reserved in anticipation of the events.

The actual dates will be chosen from this list, depending on the number of final candidates and their availability: Nov. 27 (Student Union Theatre, noon to 1:30 p.m.); Nov. 28 (SU Theatre, 10:30 a.m. to noon); and Nov. 29 (SU Theatre, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.); and Dec. 6 (Konover Auditorium, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.).

The finalized meeting schedules are expected to be circulated on Nov. 26 in the Faculty and Student Daily Digests and on UConn Today, along with links to access remote and on-demand viewing for each forum.

Former UConn Provost Peter J. Nicholls stepped down from the position last spring and became a tenured professor in the Neag School of Education. Mun Choi, dean of the UConn School of Engineering, has been serving as interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs since then.

President Herbst appointed a 13-member search committee earlier this year to work with Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm, to solicit and review applications from qualified candidates.

Herbst said at the time of the committee’s appointment that it is charged with finding a new provost “with the credentials and talent to assure UConn’s continued academic success and to shape our future excellence through our ambitious faculty hiring plan and beyond.”

“We seek an extraordinary provost who will help us to push UConn into the very top tier of international research universities,” she said.

More details about the search can be found online at http://uconn.edu/provostsearch/