Over the past few years, Millikin has gone under a vast amount of changes, and it seems as if 2014 isn’t going to be any different. This year, the search for a new Provost will begin and hopefully, a candidate will be able to begin their journey at Millikin this coming July.
The duties of the new Provost lay along the lines of the duties as the Vice President for Academic affairs. The Provost will be the right hand person to the President on academic manners and they will have the responsibility for faculty and the academic life.
“We need help from someone with a certain degree of experience who is able to see Millikin as a wonderful place and want to be here and want to help lead the faculty and the students,” President Patrick White said.
At this point in time, President White has been taking on the responsibilities that will soon be covered by the Provost. He is excited to have someone take the responsibilities off his hands in order to give those responsibilities more attention, while also allowing him to give his full attention to the duties of being President of the University.
Millikin hopes that the Provost will provide new academic leadership that will improve and expand an already strong academic program. This person’s position will be important in order to push Millikin farther into the future.
In order to obtain this position, the Provost candidate will have to have earned doctorate or other terminal degree, a record of teaching and scholarship and proof of significant academic leadership with increasing responsibility.
“Millikin has a diversely complicated academic structure,” President White said. “We have a terrific school of nursing, we have a terrific school of music, a college of fine arts, we have all kinds of programs, and I’m looking for a Provost who will be able to think about how we all work together in a way that will advance Millikin.”
In order to get the word out about Millikin’s search for a Provost, the University has gone through a search firm, Association of Governing Boards, AGB.
“In high level searches like this . . . you’re often trying to get people who aren’t necessarily looking for a job and so you hire a search firm so they can pursue some of those potential candidates,” President White said.
Dr. Saundra Tracy, the person in charge of Millikin’s search for a new Provost, has met with multiple students and faculty members around campus in order to gain a feel of Millikin and what it is the campus needs, since it is important to not only pick someone who is qualified for the job, but is also a good fit for Millikin itself.
“We all know that recourses are tight, we know that we need to reduce our expenditures, we’re going to have to have someone who has some budgetary experience,” President White said. “I’m looking for a colleague who will bring energy and inspiration to teaching and learning at Millikin and help us tell the story of performance learning farther and wider.”
As Millikin’s search for a new Provost continues, the faculty and students of Millikin wait in anticipation for this new and exciting chapter to take begin in the following months.