Dear Colleagues:

I know it has taken a bit of time, but I can now share that we have an interim provost!  I appreciate your patience as I worked through what would best position us to move our academic mission forward while we search for our next provost.

While there are members of our community who could certainly do an admirable job, given the immense significance of current Academic Affairs initiatives (e.g., reorganization, interdisciplinarity, skills mapping, etc.), coupled with the fact that moving an internal person into the interim provost role would create a hole elsewhere that would need to be filled, it became clear that the best way to move forward would be to hire an external interim provost.

To assist in finding a highly qualified candidate, I turned to The Registry (https://www.registryinterim.com/) which specializes in executive-level interim placements.  After reviewing credentials and interviewing a number of candidates, a clear frontrunner emerged.  I am thrilled to announce that the frontrunner, Dr. Charles McAdams, will be our interim provost.

In June 2021, Dr. McAdams retired as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Delta State University, a position he had held since 2013.  Before serving as Provost, Dr. McAdams served as Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences at Northwest Missouri State University from 2004 to 2013.  His vita can be found here.

Dr. McAdams will join us on July 13 and will remain until the next provost takes office.   As I indicated previously, at the beginning of the fall semester, I will work with constituency heads to name a search committee and launch the search for our next provost.

Have a great end to finals week and a wonderful summer!

Best regards,
Sue