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VP candidates face campus
Finalists for the vice president of academic affairs position began open forums this week
Open campus forums for provost/vice president for academic affairs candidates began this week with finalists Sue Hammersmith, on Monday, and Michael Spitzer, on Wednesday.
According to provost/vice president for academic affairs search committee co-chair, John Burgeson, Hammersmith was the first in a series of candidates scheduled to make appearances at SCSU.
"As of (Wednesday), five of the selected finalists have accepted invitations to campus," Burgeson said.
Hammersmith, a dean from the college of arts and sciences at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., and Spitzer, the vice president of academic affairs at Worcester State College in Worcester, Mass., are two of these candidates.
According to Tracy Ore, another co-chair of the 19-member search committee representing various constituencies, the selection process for the provost/vice president for academic affairs began in January. The position was advertised in well-circulated education publications like The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"Based on the job description in the advertisement, the committee screened applicants," Burgeson said. "We tried to identify the strengths and weaknesses of all of the candidates, and narrowed the pool down from there."
After the committee reached a consensus on which candidates were the best for the position, off-site interviews were scheduled. Once again, the committee deliberated on the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates.
"From the off-site interviews we selected finalists," Burgeson said. "The finalists were then invited to campus forums where they participate in question and answer sessions and meet with some of the people they would be working with as Provost."
According to interim vice president for academic affairs, Ruth Meyer, the ability to interact with different kinds of people is imperative for anyone seeking the position.
"Interpersonal skills are very important for this job," Meyer said. "I meet with, and talk to, a lot of different people during the day: students, faculty and staff, administration, lawyers, business people, leaders and legislators."
People who would be working with the candidates, peers, other vice presidents, academic affairs staff, students and president Saigo, evaluate the candidates. After collecting the evaluations, the search committee meets with the finalists one last time and asks a series of prescribed questions.
"We ask the same questions of every candidate and assess them," Burgeson said. "We compile all of their strengths and weakness and forward them to the president."
While the process is fairly methodical, considerations for the privacy of the candidates determine when information about their visits can be released to the public.
"We try to be careful not to hurt anyone or their current employment situation," Burgeson said. "Because we can only take one of the finalists, the rest will have to return to their schools and we don't want their work affected," Burgeson said.
Thursday afternoon Burgeson said he hopes to announce the name of the next finalist to visit SCSU. The candidate is tentatively scheduled for a campus wide presentation Friday at 1-2:30 p.m. in North Voyageur Atwood Memorial Center and a student forum at 4 p.m. in Miller Center room 115.
According to Ore, information about the candidates will be available as soon as the search committee has clearance.
"When we have permission from each candidate, their resumes will be made available at the circulation desk of the Miller Learning Resources Center," said Ore.
Hammersmith's resume, which sites the Oprah Winfrey Show as one of her more noteworthy public relations experiences, is also currently available for viewing at http://lrs.stcloudstate.edu/events/hammersmith.pdf.
If everything goes smoothly, said Burgeson, the new provost/vice president for academic affairs would start sometime in the summer.
Kristen J. Kubisiak can be reached at: [email protected]
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