The UT-AAUP Newsletter Issue #92 has caused anxiety in the President's office. Of particular concern was our statement that there would be no open sessions with faculty to speak with the Provost candidates. We based our statement on information sent by the Provost Search Advisory Committee in an email to faculty on June 20:
"It is likely that 5 or 6 candidates will be formally interviewed. The interviews will be confined to the search committee and perhaps some restricted number of other stakeholders. It is not envisioned to have campus-wide open sessions."
The following is an excerpt from a July 3 message sent from Mr. Kevin West in response to our newsletter:
"We are still in the early stages of the process. Indeed, the University is still accepting interest letters, applications, and nominations for this important position. As we are still working to attract talented professionals for this post, we are far from having a list of finalists. When we reach later stages of the process we plan to take definitive steps to assure wide exposure of candidates to all stakeholders and to seek their input. The committee is confident we will, in time, be able to identify a qualified individual who will want to join the UT administrative team. I hope the AAUP leadership and membership recognize how important the early stages of any executive recruitment effort can be."
The UT-AAUP leadership does hope that the Jacobs Administration will recognize the importance and the value of faculty participation in this Provost search as well as the necessity of faculty participation in shared governance.
Mr. West believes that "in time" we will find the right person for the position of Provost. The advertisement was posted in early April with a review of materials scheduled to begin on April 20. Dr. Jacobs said he wanted the new Provost in place by July 1. An initially precipitous process has slowed down and may now include open interviews with faculty. How many times will Provost McMillen need to retire before we are able to find a new provost for The University of Toledo?
