Provost search gathering input on values, vision

From the Northeastern Voice, November 27, 2007

The search for the next provost is well under way.

Alberto Pimentel has been selected as the university’s search consultant. Pimentel has successfully recruited candidates for president, provost, vice president, and chancellor at private and public universities throughout the country. 

 “We need to be very active in recruiting people to this position,” said professor Donna Bishop, chair of the search committee. “But our first task is to hear from the university community regarding the qualities that they would like to see in the next provost.

“Provost searches are not ‘one size fits all.’ A provost must be well-matched to the unique values, opportunities, and challenges of the institution,” Bishop said. “So it is incumbent upon the search committee to try to assemble the voices and visions of faculty, staff, administrators, and students, and then to integrate them in a way that reflects our collective sense of who we are and where we are headed, so that we can recruit and choose a provost who will help lead us academically in the directions we want to go.” 

President Joseph Aoun said the search for the right provost must focus on the university’s momentum.

“It’s going to happen by sending strong messages that we are a community that is working on its future,” he said, “that we have the confidence to shape it, we have the confidence to take risks, we have the confidence to change, and we have the humility to listen to one another.”

The committee is reaching out to the university community to share visions for the new provost, to identify the opportunities and challenges that she or he is likely to face, and to identify those unique attributes of Northeastern that should be shared with candidates and prospective candidates.

Open forums for faculty, staff, and students are scheduled for the Alumni Center, Columbus Place. Individual and small-group meetings with other constituencies, such as dean and department chairs, also have been scheduled. 

“The search for a new provost must reflect more than the values and visions of the search committee,” said Bishop. “Our choices and recommendations must reflect the broader community of which we are a part. We fully anticipate that our work in the coming months will be guided in no small measure by what we learn in the meetings.”