Ithaca College

I am pleased to announce that Nancy Pringle, Vice President and General Counsel, has agreed to chair the committee that will search for a new permanent provost as a replacement for Kathleen Rountree.

Vice President Pringle will be joined by ten other committee members, including three other administrators, six faculty members, and one student.  Three of the six faculty members on the committee were appointed through election by their colleagues.  The student on the committee was chosen from among three nominees provided by the (incoming) executive board of the Student Government Association. 

In addition to Nancy Pringle, the other members of the search committee are:  Srijana Bajracharya (Professor and Graduate Program Chair in Health Promotion and Physical Education), Diane Birr (Associate Professor of Music Performance), Mark Coldren (Associate Vice President for Human Resources), Nancy Cornwell (Professor and Chair in Television & Radio), Ali Erkan (Associate Professor -- as of August 2010 -- of Computer Science), Claire Gleitman (Professor of English), Anthony Hopson (Assistant Vice President for Community and Government Relations), Brian Keefe (Class of 2011), Rory Rothman (Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Campus Life), and Warren Schlesinger (Associate Professor of Accounting).

The committee will begin work this spring with an opportunity to discuss the search process with the consulting firm (yet to be hired).  The bulk of the committee's work will take place during the fall 2010 semester, and it is our hope to identify the permanent provost by the end of the semester.

As the chief academic officer of the College, the provost is always a key figure in the administrative leadership.  Given our commitment to examine carefully our educational mission and to identify innovative ways of better fulfilling that mission, the position of provost is more important than it has perhaps ever been in the history of Ithaca College.  I am grateful to every member of the committee for undertaking the important work of helping us identify our next provost.