The Observer, April 25, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 26
Provost search underway
As the academic term draws to a close, the search for a new provost is just beginning.
Case president Barbara Snyder recently announced Hunter Peckham would serve as the chair of the committee in charge of finding the replacement provost. Peckham is the Donnell Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopedics, and the executive director of the FES Center.
The university has been in need of a new provost since its former provost, John L. Anderson, announced he would be leaving the university to accept the position of president of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago starting July 2007. Jerold S. Goldberg, dean of the School of Dental Medicine, has been serving as the university's interim provost since August 2007.
According to Peckham, the committee is hoping to find the appropriate person to assist Snyder as the chief academic officer. A provost must be prepared to take on resbonsibilities such as articulating institutional goals, inspiring and enabling growth and productivity in each college and school, promoting diversity, and overseeing the dean's council and the research council.
Although the search is just in the beginning stages, Peckham believes it is off to a promising start. The committee already seems to have a pretty clear idea of the qualities they are looking for in potential candidates.
The candidates will be required to possess a doctorate, but the committee is mostly looking for someone who has "really demonstrated some ability to lead programs," said Peckham, "especially programs that link things together." Peckham believes that an important part of Case is how well all of the departments and schools are connected.
Not only is the committee coming up with its own ideas of what it wants to see in the next provost, but it is counting on community input. There were a series of open forums this past week inwhich students as well as faculty and staff were welcome to share their thoughts. Although the turnout at the first forum was small, the comments gleaned from participants were insightful.
We went an hour and a half with talking about ideas and qualities," said Peckham. "I think if we can get the input of what people are looking for and what they're not looking for and the names of people, we'll do a good job. Those are the two things we need to know and the committee is working really well together, so I'm very optimistic." Peckham and Snyder fulfilled their goal of having "representation [from] across the university;" the committee is made up of 11 people from different areas of the Case community, including Peckham.
Last year, Peckham was a member of the search committee that found Snyder, and he is also currently a senior faculty member –he explained that he has been with the university for at least 25 years, although he has lost count of the exact number.
There is one unusual aspect to this particular search. Peckham says that a process like this usually takes place over the academic year, but that they are hoping to reach a decision on a provost over the summer. Because the University's strategic plan is led bythe provost, the searc has become urgent.
Peckham believes it is important to get a permanent provost involved in the strategic planning as soon as possible, since this is something that will affect the entire university. He made it very clear that the committee will not sacrifice quality for speed. "There are good reasons for doing it [slow], but why not do it fast? As long as you can get the quality you're looking for. We're not going to sacrifice quality for speed, but we want both." Peckham is confident that they will at least have found a new provost by the start of the fall semester.
"I'm pretty confident we'll do this," he says. "If we get enough really good, high quality candidates that have the right experience and can really be a good partner, I think we'll be OK."
To ensure the committe finds the best canidates it is using Spencer Stuart, a firm that specializes in searches for academic institutions. The university wants to make sure it hires someone according to what the student body is looking for – as Peckham said, "This administration really wants to be responsive to the student body."
More information is available online, regarding both the search and the process for submitting comments/nominations, at http://www.case.edu/provost/search/.
