The Provost Search Committee officially began its work earlier this month and is now in the process of selecting an executive search firm to assist it.
The 11-member committee and President Neil Kerwin officially began the search when they held their first meeting Nov. 6.
AU's faculty elected three of the search committee members - Search Committee Chair Robert Griffith, chair of the College of Arts and Sciences' history department; CAS professor Anthony Ahrens; and School of International Service professor Philip Brenner - while Kerwin appointed the remaining eight members of the committee. Seven of the appointed committee members are AU faculty or staff, while the committee's student member, Karim David Marshall, is president of the Washington College of Law's Student Bar Association.
The leaders of the Student Government, Graduate Leadership Council and SBA decided Marshall should represent students on the committee, SG President Joe Vidulich said.
"Because the provost addresses issues in all of the university's schools, we needed someone on the graduate level to give input to the committee on their interests," he said. "Undergraduate concerns will be represented and articulated during the process in other ways."
Representatives from the undergraduate student population are among the groups interviewing finalists. Vidulich and GLC Chair Edgar Meza will help decide who will be in the groups who interview the finalists, Vidulich said.
Additionally, Marshall will keep Vidulich and Meza informed regularly on the provost search process, Vidulich said.
"[Marshall] will meet with us weekly to go over where the committee is in the search process, and we will articulate to him our concerns and suggestions," he said.
Former SG President Ashley Mushnick and former GLC Executive Chairman Wade Murphy were members of the search committee that selected Kerwin as its nominee to be the university's permanent president.
The committee developed a position announcement that will appear in a variety of selected publications where similar ads appear on a regular basis, including The Washington Post and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Along with listing the schools and offices falling under the provost's control, the announcement text also mentioned the future provost's role in the still-developing strategic planning process.
"The provost will play a leading role in the final development of a new university strategic plan and bear primary responsibility for the implementation of its academic components," according to the announcement text included in an e-mail Kerwin and Griffith sent Tuesday to the campus community.
The committee is also in the process of choosing an executive search firm to assist it in the process.
The period for candidates to apply or be nominated for the position is expected to last through mid-January. The committee will narrow the number of prospective candidates to a set of semifinalists, followed by further narrowing down to finalists.
Kerwin and representatives of different campus constituencies will interview all finalists before the committee makes its final recommendations. Kerwin will select a nominee, and the board of trustees will decide whether to approve.
Interim Provost Ivy Broder took over the position in August 2005 after then-Provost Kerwin became acting president. Broder was out of town before yesterday and unavailable for comment.
