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Open forum for new Provost repeats themes

The two open forums held earlier this week covering the desired qualities and responsibilities of a new Provost rehashed many of the same issues brought up during the presidential search forums last spring.

As for a timeline until the search begins, University Senate President Jobie Skaggs said an official timeline hadn’t been conveyed by Interim President Liberty or incoming President Gary Roberts. There’s still an interest in getting an advertisement for the position out before winter break.

“I am quite confident we will be able to place an ad for the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs position prior to the holiday break,” Interim President Stan Liberty stated in an email shared by University Spokesperson Renee Charles.

The forums were primarily faculty-dominated, with no student presence besides a Scout reporter, as the event was not advertised to students. The search committee members were still being selected at the time of the forums, and they will explore without the aid of an inspection firm.

The search committee is made up of 10 to11 members, six faculty, two deans and an additional two individuals who can be nominated by the president. The departments of the university elect the faculty members on the committee.

Attendees said they want a candidate who has experience in universities comparable to Bradley and has a demonstrated record of consultative decision-making. There was also a call for increased transparency, communication and collaboration between higher-level administration and faculty.

Matt Timm, University Senate vice president, said faculty should support a candidate who would advocate for departments to have more control over the budget, and the room agreed.

“We should be investing in academics,” Dean of the Graduate School Jeffrey Bakken said. “You can’t be the Bradley we aspire to be when departments don’t have what they need to be successful.”

Ahmad Fakheri, a mechanical engineering professor, said the position of Provost needs to be changed at Bradley because the current system doesn’t let a Provost do their job.

“The position is constrained as it is structured,” Fakheri said. “The Provost really isn’t able to change anything; you have to have a command of resources and the Provost at Bradley does not control that much resource.”

The position of Provost doesn’t have the funding or staffing it needs to succeed, according to Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Kelly McConnaughay.

While these and other more structural issues came up during the forums, they also focused on what general qualities a new Provost needs and what should be decided before the search begins.

“I think it’s important the search committee be aware of how Gary [Roberts] intends to use the Provost,” accounting department chairperson Simon Petravick said. “How this person will be used on campus and what this person will be asked to do will drive the skill-set that is needed.”

Christopher Jones, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said the Provost also should have a comprehensive experience of a university, not just one department.

“I would like someone who has managed major change [and has] experience dealing with major change in an institution, because we’re clearly going to face some major change,” social work program director Wayne Evens said.

A repeated theme was the desire for a strong focus on academics.

“I would like to see someone who is an academic [and] understands and advocates effectively for academic standards,” McConnaughay said. “A lot of what’s been already said – someone who understands where higher education has been, where it’s going and where pressures are on it, someone who is transparent but also consultative in decision making, liberate in decision making, but not foot-dragging.”

According to Skaggs, the feedback from these forums will be shared with the newly formed search committee, along with the new president and interim president. She said during the forum she thought the content is an opportunity for faculty to get their voices heard, and they will help the incoming president become more familiar with the issues campus is facing.

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