CSU Narrows Down Provost Candidates
The Provost Search Committee here at CSU has narrowed down their prospects to the final three candidates. The position of provost is integral to university operations, as they are responsible for much of its internal management. The provost has many important duties, such as having the final say in new academic programs, overseeing the deans of all colleges, approving tenure, and approving the hiring of new faculty members. CSU’s previous provost, Tom Hackett, Ph.D., took a position in the College of Education and Health Professions in June of this year. The official job posting for the position lists four major education and experience requirements. All candidates must have at least a doctorate or appropriate terminal degree, a record of teaching warranting tenure, five years of leadership experience as a dean or higher rank, and “show a demonstrated commitment to shared governance and servant leadership.” The Search Committee narrowed the applicants down to three candidates fitting this description. The first of the three candidates is Bradley Caskey, Ph.D. Caskey currently serves as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has a Masters Degree and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Perdue University and won a Regents Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Wisconsin System in 2005.
Caskey’s cover letter mentioned that he liked the idea of “moving into a position of greater responsibility at an institution with a student-centered focus led by a dynamic collaborative team of faculty, staff and administrators.” During his campus visit, he cited CSU’s connection to the city of Columbus as one of the things that drew him to the university. He addressed the faculty and student body, “You can grow in ways that other people can’t grow because of that synergy with you and your community.” Caskey also mentioned the value he places in faculty development, globalization, and campus diversity. Speaking on diversity, Caskey takes pride in the fact that over half of the twenty hires during his time as dean at UWRF were “women or underrepresented individuals.” Second is N. Jane McCandless, Ph.D., who currently works at the University of West Georgia as a professor of sociology and the founding Dean of the College of Social Sciences. She founded and directed the Women’s Studies program at West Georgia, and focuses her research on contemporary women’s issues. She has a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Akron. In her cover letter, McCandless compared her experiences as a founding dean to CSU’s Strategic Goals. She wrote, “We, too, have faced the challenge of name recognition and academic reputation.” She cited several methods of expanding the college, including enhancing relevant and diverse academic programs. McCandless values servant leadership, and found CSU’s focus on servant leadership a convincing quality. Third is Cheryl Torsney, Ph.D., who formerly worked as senior vice provost at the
University of Texas at El Paso. She’s currently a full-time faculty member in UTES’s English Department. Her research is mainly on nineteenth-century American writers and contemporary material cultures. She also used two Fulbright Fellowships to teach in France and the Netherlands. Torsney began her on-campus interview by saying “this is a great job at an institution that is on a very serious upward trajectory, and I want to be part of this story.” She also argued in her cover letter that her experience with fundraising and grant-writing would be an asset to CSU, writing “none of the Columbus State’s ambitious plans can be accomplished without the experience of savvy academic leaders who understand the importance of fund- and friend-raising.” According to John Finley, Ph.D., head of the Search Committee, the committee met on Wednesday, Nov. 16 to deliberate about the candidates. The committee submitted their comments and recommendations to President Chris Markwood for review.
