Vice President for Academic Affairs Search to Begin

Following the successful completion of the search for the University of Wyoming’s next president, work has begun to recruit and hire the university’s chief academic officer.

Overseen by incoming President Laurie Nichols, preparations for the search for a new vice president for academic affairs are underway with the appointment of a 17-member search committee. The group will meet for the first time Thursday, Jan. 14.

The objective is to have a new vice president for academic affairs in place by Aug. 1, to succeed current Vice President David Jones, who will return to his position on the faculty of the College of Health Sciences. The vice president for academic affairs is the second-ranking leadership position at the university.

Bill Gern, vice president for research and economic development, heads the committee. Other members are Professor Mary Burman, dean of the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing; Associate Dean of Students Dolores Cardona; Professor Michael Duff, associate dean of the College of Law; Stefani Hicswa, president of Northwest College in Powell; Kathie Hull, director of business affairs in the Office of Academic Affairs; Emily Kath, vice president of the Associated Students of UW; Paula Lutz, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Vice President for Administration Bill Mai; Associate Lecturer Nancy Peck, of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Michael Pishko, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science; Associate Professor Benjamin Rashford, of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics; Professor Leslie Rush, associate dean of the College of Education; Associate Professor Robert Sprague, of the Department of Management and Marketing; Professor David Williams, head of the Department of Botany; and Professor Bonnie Zare, of the Gender and Women’s Studies Program. The committee also will include a UW student.

The search process will be similar to that used by the UW Board of Trustees in its selection of Nichols. The committee is expected to seek input from campus constituencies and discuss desired qualifications and characteristics before reviewing candidates; consider applicants; and pass along a list of finalists to the president, who will recommend a selection to the Board of Trustees.

As with the presidential search, the names of candidates will be confidential until the list of finalists is released. The finalists will come to campus for public forums, likely late in the spring semester.

Assisting in the search is the consulting firm of Storbeck Pimentel, which also was employed for the presidential search.