VCU news

By VCU News staff

Virginia Commonwealth University has launched the search for its next provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Meredith Weiss, Ph.D., senior vice president for finance and administration, and Marlon Levy, M.D., senior vice president of health sciences and CEO of the VCU Health System, will serve as the co-chairs of the search committee. The committee is committed to a process that involves opportunities for input from the university community. Last week, feedback and input from members of the Faculty Senate and University Council were collected, and WittKiefer, the executive search firm engaged for the process, will conduct additional forums with several other groups, including the council of deans and the Staff Senate, as well as holding universitywide listening sessions, between now and the end of May.

“Our nationwide search will be designed to recruit an ideal chief academic officer who will catalyze the upward trajectory of VCU as a national public research university so that we can fulfill our charter addressing all of the commonwealth’s needs that come with being a fully committed public research university,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “I seek a leader who will work closely and collaboratively with our faculty and other leaders to raise the university’s academic profile, research, and student success and timely achievements along with the success of our faculty and staff.”

For the position, VCU will seek a highly accomplished academic leader who is committed to the broad range of roles in VCU’s complex and critical mission, including spurring growth in research, creativity, and innovation across every one of the university’s disciplines. Leadership to advance research will involve supporting faculty, including those engaged in citable research and ensuring that faculty hires support collaborative research teams, particularly for tenurable positions. Leadership will also ensure that VCU has deeply committed, empathetic educators at all levels. The chief academic officer will strengthen the learning experiences of students at all levels, including improving the graduation rates of the university’s more than 20,000 undergraduate students, understanding that the success of all students is the core mission.

The provost search website at hr.vcu.edu/careers-at-vcu/search/provost/ provides additional information about the search committee, opportunities for feedback, the search process and timetable.

Campuswide listening sessions will be held on Tuesday, May 13, from 4-4:45 p.m. and Thursday, May 22, 9–9:45 a.m.  Additional information about the listening sessions and a registration form can be found at this site.

An online survey is available for immediate response at www.surveymonkey.com/r/3QYRGLH.

Once formally posted, the provost leadership position description will also be available on the website. At that time, confidential applications and nominations will be accepted until the position is filled.

Last month, Fotis Sotiropoulos, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, announced that he will leave on May 31 to join Penn State University as its executive vice president and provost. Beverly J. Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D., will serve as interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, effective at the end of May. Warren returns to VCU, where she served as provost from 2011 to 2014, before becoming the 12th president of Kent State University.