Candidate’s partial work history
Jordan Barley
• Principal Senior Associate and Associate Vice President for Academic Administration, Tarleton State University, since July.
• Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Administration, Tarleton State University, July 2019 – June 30.
• Dean and Professor of College of Education, Tarleton State University, July 2014 – July 2019.
• Associate Dean and Director of Accreditation, College of Education & Professional Studies, Jacksonville State University, July 2011 – June 2014.
• Head of the Department of Secondary Education, College of Education & Professional Studies, Jacksonville State University, January 2009 – June 2011.
Vijaya Gompa
• Dean and Professor of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Johnson C. Smith University, since June 2020.
• Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Computer and Information Science, Jacksonville State University, August 2016 – May 2020.
• Department Head and Professor of the Department of Mathematics, Computing, and Information Science, Jacksonville State University, August 2016 – December 2019.
• Wiregrass Math Project Director, Science and Technology Leadership Academy, Troy University, 2011 – 2017.
• Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Troy University, August 2010 – July 2016.
Chad Hargrave
• Associate Vice Provost and Director of Research for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Sam Houston State University, since January 2018.
• Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, since September 2018.
• Acting Associate Vice President and Director of Research for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Sam Houston State University, January 2016 – December 2017.
• Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, September 2012 – September 2017.
• Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, September 2012 – August 2018.
Scott McKay
• Dean of Arts and Sciences, University of Texas Permian Basin, since 2019.
• Interim Associate Vice President for Research, University of Texas Permian Basin, 2019 – 2020.
• Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dakota State University, 2017 – 2019.
• Dean of the College of Science and Engineering, Southern Arkansas University, 2011 – 2017.
• Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics, University of Central Missouri, 2009 – 2011.
Shadow Robinson
• Dean of the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Tennessee at Martin, since 2018.
• Acting Chair of the Department of Engineering, University of Tennessee at Martin, 2019 – 2020.
• Director of Compass Curriculum, Millsaps College, 2016 – 2018.
• Director of the James Observatory, Millsaps College, 2016 – 2018.
• Chairman of the Department of Physics, Millsaps College, 2011 – 2018.
Source: University of Arkansas-Fort Smith
FORT SMITH — The five finalists for the post of provost and vice chancellor of the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith for academic affairs have visited campus for the past two weeks.
Each nominee spent two days meeting and interviewing faculty, staff, students, administration and other members of the community, according to Ken Warden, chair of the university’s internal search committee.
The candidates also held public presentations at the Windgate Theater on campus during which they discussed how they would prepare the university for reaccreditation if selected as provost, according to a university press release. They talked about how to address the challenges they might expect a regional university to also face during the reaccreditation process.
Warden, who also serves as the university’s deputy vice chancellor for compliance and legislative affairs, said the tours allow voters to have their say on the finalists.
“It’s the one we don’t want to get wrong,” Warden said. “We just have to be diligent in the process to make sure we’ve done everything we can to know that this candidate will be highly qualified, but also of high quality.”
Warden said the committee has gathered feedback from voters and will provide feedback on the five finalists to Terisa Riley, chancellor of the university. Riley will ultimately decide who to hire.
The university expects the process to be completed by June 30, the press release said.
Alexandra Zacharella, a research committee member who is director of orchestras and an associate professor of low brass at the university, said she thinks the provost should be a strong advocate for faculty and students. He also understands how the field of higher education is affected by major social, political, economic and technological changes and will be a “true agent of change” in bringing the university into the next phase it has planned.
Warden explained that the university will develop a new strategic plan in the 2022-23 academic year. The university will also go through the reaccreditation process with the Higher Education Commission, a regional accrediting body, in the 2024-25 academic year.
The university has spent much of the time since Riley became chancellor in 2019 responding to the covid-19 pandemic, he said.
Warden said the new provost, which he called a “director of studies role,” will be key to the university’s efforts to get back into the business of ensuring it is both aligned on the needs of the community and matches its mission as a comprehensive regional university. .
Another new phase
Georgia Hale, the university’s current provost, announced in February her intention to retire on June 30.
Hale’s tenure at the university began in 2004 as associate dean of the new College of Business, now the College of Business and Industry, according to the university. From there, she became Acting Dean of the College of Commerce, then Dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology before assuming her current role in 2014.
Hale said she was excited to start planning the next phase of her life. She believes it’s time to have a little less stress after a “very rewarding” career at university.
“This last opening ceremony was a bit sad for me because I’ve spent the last 18 Mother’s Day weekends attending multiple opening ceremonies,” Hale said. “These ceremonies are the culmination of this phase of our students’ lives and the beginning of another. This last beginning meant the same to me.”
Hale said she worked under three chancellors in her eight years as provost and vice-chancellor for academic affairs, a time she described as filled with change. She thinks the university reorganization, something announced in April 2021 that reduced the number of colleges at the university from five to three, among other actions, was probably the most dramatic change she has faced. during these years.
The research
Warden said the national search for a new provost began in February after the university hired Academic Career and Executive Search, a company based in West Hartford, Connecticut. Riley nominated a combination of faculty, staff, students and administrators to serve on the internal search committee for the position, according to the press release.
Kristen Merritt, research committee member and advisory coordinator at the university’s College of Arts and Sciences, said the institution’s commitment to shared governance played an important role in the process of helping Riley to select the new provost.
“Traditionally, you think of provost and academic affairs as just faculty and students, but having a seat at the table as a staff member at this university and as a whole has been a great opportunity,” said Merritt.
The academic career and executive search brought an initial pool of more than 75 candidates to the search committee, according to Warden. The committee then worked with the cabinet to narrow that number down to 16 applicants before narrowing the list down to the five who ended up visiting campus in person that month.
The final five included:
• Jordan Barkley, Senior Associate Vice Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Administration in the Academic Affairs Division at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas.
• Vijaya Gompa, Dean and Professor of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Chad Hargrave, Associate Provost and Director of Research for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.
• Scott McKay, Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas.
• Shadow Robinson, Dean of the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences at the University of Tennessee at Martin in Martin, Tennessee.
Rachel Putman, the university’s associate director of strategic communications, said Academic Career and Executive Search was hired for $35,000. The annual salary of the new provost will be around $200,000.