The final two candidates for provost were on Marshall's campus this week meeting with students and faculty.
The two candidates are Gayle L. Ormiston, associate provost for faculty affairs and curriculum at Kent State University and Barbara Schirmer, vice president for academic affairs at University of Detroit, Mercy.
Both Ormiston and Schirmer agree they are eager to fill the position here at Marshall because the university really seems to be growing and they want to be part of the changes.
Sarah Denman announced her retirement in May after serving 12 years as provost at Marshall University. Applications began being reviewed March 31. Donna Spindel, former dean for the college of liberal arts and member of the provost search committee, said they are working hard so the spot can be filled by the fall.
The provost is the chief academic officer to the university, second in line to the president; the provost reports only to President Stephen J. Kopp. The provost has many responsibilities including handling the campus budget, hiring new faculty and evaluating academic administrators.
The search committee plays a big role in determining who will be chosen for the position but it is ultimately up to Kopp. The position will remain empty until Kopp decides which candidate will best fit what Marshall University is looking for. The new provost should be in his or her office by the beginning of the fall semester. Kopp or Bill Bissett, senior vice president for communications, could not be reached for comment.
Tuesday, Ormiston was at Marshall University in the Memorial Student Center introducing himself to faculty and answering questions. A common complaint was the heavy course loads professors are being asked to take on. The flexible workload policy was brought up, this is an official university policy that has never been enforced designed to spread course loads evenly from junior faculty to senior faculty.
"I want to be fair," Ormiston said. "Course loads should not be differentiated, but I need to know more about the particular situations and become more comfortable with the university before I can say what I would do for sure."
Four faculty members at Marshall agree the university has been going through a six-year salary compression and inversion, creating a serious problem in faculty morale. Some faculty members wonder why young "superstars" are being hired to fix all the problems in one department. Ormiston responded by assuring the faculty he believes salary should be based on disciplines.
"Don't promote salary inversion, just say 'No President Kopp'," he joked, "If you bring in one superstar the department is not saved; I do not advise going in to hire a superstar."
Ormiston said he is ready to take on all the roles provosts must carry out, everything from reappointment to faculty senate. Ormiston said he is very interested in the vision Kopp has designed for the university. That vision focuses on student life and is quite critical to understand more about students.
On Wednesday, Schirmer took her turn in the hot seat. Faculty members gathered around to hear what she has to offer to the university. The discussion of heavy course loads continued.
"Realities of the finances are just the realities of the finances." Schirmer said, "Faculty, chairs, and deans must be certain the new faculty is right for the job. The reality of it all is that we cannot reduce course loads without hiring new faculty, and cannot hire new faculty in this day and age without money. It's all those ugly realities we wish did not exist."
Schirmer has a lot of experience with regional campuses; several of the universities she has worked at have had many regional campuses in addition to the main university. She said working with regional campuses is something she is very used to because the directors and deans of those campuses have reported to her in previous positions. She sees no reason why regional campuses cannot run 12 months out of the year, in fact the more programming in the summer she sees, the better.
Laura Little, director of center for instructional technology, asked Schirmer where she stands on developing innovative learning techniques and online courses. Schirmer said new learning techniques should be used when they are helpful. She thinks many things done online are not necessarily helpful, they are just cool and fun for students to take part in. From her experience Schirmer thinks students are more interested in face to face interaction with their classmates and professors.
"I am at heart a faculty member, a teacher and scholar. I try to be the administrator that I would have wanted when I was a professor," Schirmer said.
Pam Thomas can be contacted at thomas281@marshall.edu.
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