Announcing the search plan for Executive Vice President and University Provost
Dear Lumberjacks,
In messages shared in December 2021 and February 2022, I described a plan to help NAU power the academic excellence that is so crucial to our current and future success: first, by restructuring the portfolio of the Provost—elevating the role to Executive Vice President in recognition of the universitywide scope and impact of this leadership position; second, by reappointing Dr. Karen Pugliesi as interim provost; and third, by outlining a plan for engaging in a national search to begin in Spring 2023.
Today, I am pleased to share in greater detail our search plan, which has been informed by our university’s strategic priorities over the last year, the shifting social and political context, and the need to ensure that our academic enterprise is well aligned—in structure, vision, and personnel—with the exciting, yet challenging road ahead.
Launching the search process and articulating the role of the New NAU Provost
After due consideration and consultation, I am pleased to present a four-phase plan that I believe will allow us to conduct a successful national search for an intentionally designed and conceptualized Executive Vice President and University Provost position, fitting the short- and long-term needs and aspirations of the New NAU. The plan is comprised of several interlinked components that are broken into the following phases:
- Spring-Summer 2023— Discovery and Design to Optimize the Academic Affairs Organizational Model: engage relevant constituents from throughout the university, including the Faculty Senate and University Advisory Board, to ensure the organization for which the Provost is responsible adequately reflects our priorities and future needs; additionally, interview and select an appropriate search firm and form a representative search committee.
- Fall 2023—Launch Search: finalize the position description and search plan in consultation with our search firm partners and launch the public recruitment for NAU’s next Provost to facilitate an extended window to generate interest and source experienced candidates.
- Spring 2024—Recruitment and Interview Process: ensure the search committee thoroughly assesses candidates and engage the NAU community in comprehensive interviews and forums, culminating in campus visits and a final selection made in Spring 2024.
- Summer-Fall 2024—Transition and Onboarding: leverage the expertise of our current leaders and engage in a transitional period where Provost Pugliesi will guide a robust onboarding and handoff of responsibilities to ensure continuity and momentum for all efforts in Academic Affairs.
At first glance, the timeframe above may seem longer than typical searches, but the reality is that—as we have seen with some of our recent leadership searches at NAU—these processes often take 18-24 months for a wide variety of reasons, including tight market dynamics. In this case, the main driver for the timeframe presented is the recognition that we are not searching for a provost to lead the Academic Affairs of today, but rather a provost who will lead the Academic Affairs we need for tomorrow. Indeed, the phased-approach is meant to engage the university community in a transparent and participatory way in fully building our vision for the New NAU, founded on the exemplary work that Provost Pugliesi has led over the past 18-months and aligned with our shared roadmap in NAU 2025 – Elevating Excellence. It is imperative we get this right, and I look forward to the work ahead.
Appointment of Karen Pugliesi as Executive Vice President and University Provost, Spring 2023 through Summer/Fall 2024
With our plan and milestones clearly outlined, I also want to share an important update about Provost Pugliesi’s appointment and role in the work ahead. Clearly, she has been a crucial leader and thought partner throughout my time at NAU. Her achievements are many, including partnering with the Faculty Senate on the development and passage of a new faculty constitution, the reimagining of our academic leadership structures, the creation of the teaching track, increases to minimum faculty salaries, a concerted effort to redefine and modernize our workload policies, championing the teacher-scholar model as the core of NAU’s academic identity, successful recruitment of a talented team of deans, leadership of a signature university priority focused on curricular design and career preparedness, and, above all, an unwavering commitment to partnership, equity, and excellence in leadership that mirrors my own.
With a substantial portfolio of work well-underway, Karen and I have discussed her own plans and the search outline shared today. I am pleased to announce that in recognition of her work, the essential leadership she will provide throughout the search process, and the full confidence I have in her that effective January 1, with her standard administrator reappointment, I will name Karen as the full (non-interim) Executive Vice President and University Provost for the duration of the search period for her successor (pending final approval by the Arizona Board of Regents).
Professionally, Karen has decided to not pursue this role beyond the search process and thus will not be a candidate in the search pool. She fully commits herself to the leadership of our academic enterprise and supporting a successful search and onboarding of our next Provost. At the conclusion of her term in Fall 2024 (or sooner based on the date of hire of her successor), she will step down from this administrative role.
I am grateful for all that Karen has and will continue to contribute to NAU’s success and look forward to her wise counsel and thoughtful leadership in the months ahead.
The road ahead
In closing, I want to thank the many voices from throughout our university community who have shared their perspectives and helped shape this path forward over the course of many months. This transparent articulation of our plans is reflective of and consistent with how our presidency has operated over the last 1.5 years—following a clear vision, honoring shared governance and broad consultation, sensing and responding to emergent needs and strategic imperatives, and articulating clearly our path of action.
I look forward to the hard and important work of the visioning and search process that will start in the new year, to the many valued contributions you, the members of our university community, will make to refine our thinking, and to the leadership of Karen and her team in helping us realize the vision for the New NAU.
In partnership,
José Luis Cruz Rivera
President