By Daniel Johnson-Kim, Editor in Chief
After examining several applications from across the nation, the Provost Search Committee is one step closer to finding ACU’s new chief academic officer.
The committee, which is comprised of a team of nine ACU faculty or staff chosen by the Faculty Senate, selected at least 10 submitted applications to follow up on and is interviewing the handful of hopeful applicants.
Those applicants were chosen from the pile of people who applied or were nominated after the open position was advertised on ACU’s Web site and in the Christian Chronicle.
The committee plans to narrow the pool to three or five candidates who will be invited to visit the campus by March. Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, will then interview the applicants, and the applicants will make a presentation and answer questions from the faculty and other groups across campus.
“We are looking for that person who is going to rise up in the crowd,” said committee member Dr. Foy Mills, chair of the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. “The candidates that are coming in all have great credentials, are fine professors and are academic leaders in their own right. But we are looking for a person who fits the ACU environment.”
The Provost is the chief academic officer of the university; he reports to the president and serves as a vice president. In addition to serving as leader of the faculty and academic support staff, the Provost is responsible for the scholarship, education and service sections of the university, according to the position’s description in the job posting on ACU’s Web site.
The committee formed and began searching for a Provost after the current Provost, Dr. Dwayne VanRheenen, announced in October his plans to retire from his position at ACU, move to the Northwest and spend more time with family.
“Dwayne VanRheenen was a tremendous Provost, probably one of the best Provosts in the history of the school,” said Search Committee member Dr. Rick Lytle, chair of the College of Business Administration.
Lytle said the committee is carefully analyzing each application and is not taking its role lightly.
“To me, the Provost is the CEO of the academic unit of Abilene Christian University,” Lytle said. “That is where our product is, and that is where our product is developed. People don’t come to ACU because we have a great operations group, even though it is very important.”
Mills said the committee is searching for a person who must have vision and must adjust that vision to the context of the University’s 21st Century Vision to transform ACU into a premier university for the education of Christ-centered, global leaders by 2020.
“Whoever the person is, they will have to be able to make good decisions,” Mills said. “The next Provost must be someone who is willing to listen to input from other people not only in leadership circles, but also from the faculty.”
The chair of the Search Committee is MeLesa Breeding, dean of the College of Education and Human Services. In addition to Mills and Lytle, the committee members are Dr. Cheryl Bacon, chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication; Dr. Patricia Hernandez, professor of biology; Dr. Eric Gumm, assistant director of Academic Advising and the First-Year Program; Dr. Gary McCaleb, vice president of the University; Dr. Mark Hamilton, associate professor of Old Testament, and Dr. Brent Reeves, assistant professor of management sciences.
