Search under way for new NIU provost

An 18-member search committee meets for the first time today, marking the official beginning of NIU's quest for a new executive vice president and provost.

Co-chaired by NIU President John Peters and Faculty Senate President Paul Stoddard, the committee includes administrators, faculty, staff and students elected or appointed by colleges and departments in accordance with the university's constitution.

Executive search firm Isaacson, Miller of Boston will assist the committee. Dr. Susan Shurin will represent Isaacson, Miller, which specializes in top-level academic and administrative positions in higher education and other non-profit fields. The firm most recently helped identify top candidates for positions at North Carolina State, University of Illinois at Chicago and Springfield and the University of Pennsylvania.

The search committee will spend several hours today discussing the Provost position and the attributes members hope to find among top candidates. They'll also approve a search agenda and timeline, beginning with advertisements appearing in January in national media and culminating with a recommendation of finalists in early May. Current NIU Provost Ivan Legg steps down at the end of June 2006; search committee co-chairs Peters and Stoddard say they hope to have a new provost on board by July 1.

Membership on the provost search committee is outlined in the university constitution with representatives elected or appointed by constituent groups or officials. Those include: tenured faculty members from each of the colleges and the university libraries; the president of the faculty senate; one department chair; one dean; one operating staff member; two supportive professional staff members; one law or graduate student; and two undergraduate students.

Search committee members include: David Sinason – Business; Beth Wilkins – Education; Ibrahim Abdel-Motaleb – Engineering; Ayhan Lash – Health & Human Sciences; Jeff Parness – Law; Bill Blair – Liberal Arts & Sciences; Doug Boughton – Visual & Performing Arts; Nestor Osorio – Library; Michael Parrish – department chair; Promod Vohra – dean; Nancy Kasinski – SPS (Student Affairs); Carol Scheidenhelm – SPS (Academic or Student Affairs); Sara Clayton – Operating Staff (Academic or Student Affairs); Kim Hiller – undergraduate student; Jessica Korth – undergraduate student; Jeffrey Meyer – graduate or law student; co-chairs John Peters – president; and Paul Stoddard – president of Faculty Senate.

Peters will make the final candidate recommendation to the NIU Board of Trustees. He called the search “critically important to the future of our university.”

“The provost is NIU's chief academic and student affairs officer,” Peters said. “He or she will bear much of the responsibility for helping us reach the goal we established five years ago: to be recognized as the nation's premier regional public university.”

Peters said the five themes he established last month at his State of the University address – sustainability, engagement, globalization, responsiveness and accountability – will figure prominently in the provost search.

“Our next provost must rise to the challenge of creating a great intellectual environment, enhancing the student experience, driving an aggressive research agenda, expanding our graduate programs, creating sustainable scholarly and creative initiatives, encouraging active engagement in our region and continuing our efforts to internationalize the campus.”

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