President's Update - October 5, 2004

Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs

Dear Colleagues,

One of the most important steps this year will be the hiring of a Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs – University Provost. This person will play a key role in fulfilling the intellectual mission and programmatic goals of Fairleigh Dickinson and will coordinate the academic priorities across the campuses and programs that constitute our University.

In late spring, a committee was formed with four faculty (representing each of the colleges) and three administrators. The members are:

Gretchen Gibbs
Sally Hashem
William Roberts
David Rosen (chair)
Gordon Sollars
Michael Sperling
David Steele

Over the summer, the committee clarified the required and desired qualifications and expectations and fine-tuned the job description. In addition, because of the critical importance of this position, we decided to retain the services of Auerbach Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in searching for senior academic leaders who match well the needs of a unique and complex university such as FDU.

In September, advertisements were submitted to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Black Issues in Higher Education and Hispanic Outlook.

Through the fall, the committee will be reviewing the candidates’ curricula vitae and interviewing candidates. The selection of finalists for campus interviews and visits is scheduled for mid-February. A final decision is anticipated in early spring, with the chosen applicant expected to join Fairleigh Dickinson University on July 1, 2005. David Rosen will soon announce the creation of a Web site that will keep the community informed of the search.

I would like to thank all the members of the Fairleigh Dickinson community including the Board of Trustees, the faculty, the administrative leadership, the staff and students who have joined me in envisioning the benefit this position will bring to our University. And I especially want to thank the committee members who are devoting themselves to this vital task.

Thank you,
Michael Adams