Transitional leadership and updates in Academic Affairs

It has been a busy eight months but I believe that we are beginning a transition in the Provost’s leadership team that will help us get our work done without creating a permanent administrative structure until after we have time to assess our needs. With that said, I have shared with several groups already that we have created an open-ended position with the title “Assistant to the Provost for Special Projects” that will help me address several needs by hiring several individuals in fixed term positions. The first hire was Bruce Maxwell who is working with the advising and retention issue. On March 1, 2008, Dr. Yvonne Baldwin accepted the opportunity to fill one of these positions to work with the general education redesign and the university studies degree framework. And, finally, Dr. Charlie Patrick will join the team on August 1, 2008 to oversee the SACS accreditation process as well as the QEP (Quality Evaluation Plan) process prior to the SACS visit.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I will continue to update you as we evaluate the effectiveness of the Academic Affairs Division and make appropriate changes. And, thank you for the work that you have done this year. We are making significant progress in becoming the best regional university in the South!

~Karla Hughes, Provost