President Barbara R. Snyder announced today that she is requesting nominations for members of the search committee for Case Western Reserve’s next provost and executive vice president.
The university’s provost since 2008, W.A. “Bud” Baeslack III, will step down from the role at the end of the academic year. A materials engineer by training, Baeslack said he wanted to return to the teaching and research that first drew him to higher education more than 25 years earlier.
In higher education, a provost serves as the institution’s chief academic officer. At Case Western Reserve, the individual in this position directly oversees all of the university’s schools, student affairs, enrollment management, research and technology, [U]Tech, institutional research and the Center for International Affairs, among other offices.
“Case Western Reserve has made significant progress across multiple realms over the past decade,” said President Snyder, who served as provost and executive vice president at The Ohio State University before her appointment here. “But we have the potential to achieve so much more. Finding an exceptional academic leader to serve as our next provost is key to our ability to realize those possibilities.”
The members of the search committee perform many activities, but typically play two critical roles. They review materials regarding potential candidates to help decide who will come to Cleveland for interviews, and they provide candidates a sense of the university.
“Candidates often draw conclusions about an institution based on their initial interactions with committee members,” President Snyder said. “Nominees should be individuals who know Case Western Reserve well and can speak authentically about our strengths and opportunities.”
Committee nominees also should be individuals able to dedicate significant time and effort to the process, which is likely to last several months. Those who would like to suggest individuals to serve should provide the individual’s name and position, as well as reasons they believe the individual would be a valuable search committee member. Those recommending committee members can provide more than one name in their emails, and also can self-nominate. All nominations should be emailed to provostsearch2017@case.edu no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13.