Kennesaw State’s Provost Search Committee has announced four finalists for the position of KSU’s next provost and vice president of academic affairs after months of searching.
The final candidates are set to visit both campuses, as well as hold public presentations that are open to all of the KSU community beginning on Monday, Nov. 5.
According to KSU’s website, the presentations will be held from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. in HS1000 on the Kennesaw Campus, and from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. in Q202 on the Marietta Campus for each candidate on their specific dates.
The first finalist presentation will be given by Dr. Larry Singell, executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University on Nov. 5. Singell was previously a faculty member for 23 years at the University of Oregon before being named an executive dean at Indiana University in 2011.
Finalist Dr. Melanie Perreault, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at SUNY Buffalo State College will be giving her presentation on Nov. 7. Perreault has a background as a professor of history, department chair and associate provost at Buffalo State.
Giving his presentation on Nov. 12, Dr. Mike Ferrara is both dean of the College of Health and Human Services and the Kent P. Falb professor of kinesiology at the University of New Hampshire. Ferrara also previously served as the associate dean of research at the University of Georgia.
The final candidate presentation will be given by Dr. Teresa Dahlberg, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University, on Nov. 14. Dahlberg has served at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City as well as at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
“The Search Committee has been impressed with the quality of the candidates who applied for the position,” head of the Provost search committee, Dr. Jon Preston said. “We have worked since President Whitten formed the committee in late July and are pleased to host Drs. Dahlberg, Ferrara, Perreault and Singell to KSU in the next two weeks.
“All four finalists have extensive experience in higher education administration [and] leadership and are well qualified, and all come from strong institutions,” Preston continued. “The quality and quantity of candidates that applied for the position speak to KSU as a destination university that has ever-increasing national prominence.”
For those who cannot make it to the finalists’ presentations, they will be live-streamed on livestream.kennesaw.edu.
The 20 members of the search committee include faculty and staff members from both the Kennesaw and Marietta campuses and each of KSU’s 13 colleges.
KSU President Dr. Pamela Whitten sent an email to the university deans and chairs on Oct. 9, stating that they hope to have a new provost on campus by winter 2019.