Cabrini University has been looking for a new Provost since last Provost Jeff Gingerich left campus in May of 2018. Mark Kiselica has been acting as Provost since Gingerich left last semester.
Current acting campus president, Brian Eury has a good idea on why the role of the Provost is so important.
“The job description is always changing,” Eury said “The provost is second in charge. They oversee all of faculty, classes, course offerings and they work hand in hand with faculty in course development.”
As one can probably already tell, the role of Provost is a pretty big position to fill. Doing so will not be an easy task.
“It’s a very time consuming job,” acting provost, Mark Kiselica said. “It is also a very honored position, it is a privilege to be a Provost. Especially, here at Cabrini.”
It takes a lot of moving parts to select one person who is responsibile to oversee so many tasks.
The process starts off with a search consulting firm partnered with Cabrini to help find good candidates. Hyatt Fennell has been partnered with Cabrini for the better part of five years now. They have been very useful in directing Cabrini to good candidates for these high level positions.
“We have been very fortunate to have a partner in a search consulting business like Hyatt Fennell,” Eury said.
The search does not stop here. After Cabrini receives a list of potential candidates, it is time for the interview committee to take action.
Dr. Melissa Terlecki, is a proud member of this committee.
“[The committee] choose what candidates are going to move forward, and weed out the ones who don’t really meet the qualifications,” Terlecki said.
This is an important step that can not be overlooked. The committee helps the president out so he is not swamped with sorting through thousands of different candidates.
With a good system in place to weed out the candidates that are not qualified, it is left to the question, what qualifies a person to be second in command?
To have so many responsibilities, Cabrini can not simply give the job to just anyone with a degree.
Thankfully, the interview committee has significant standards for a Provost to have.
The main factor that the interview committee wants is for the Provost candidate to fit in with Cabrini’s culture.
“Though there are several duties of the job, the number one duty, more than anything, is supporting the Cabrini mission, and that is education of the heart,” Kiselca said.
Cabrini University needs a Provost who can handle the increasing enrollment here at Cabrini. It is very apparent that the university will not be as small as a school as it is for very long. The Provost needs to be dedicated to welcoming and supporting both, new and current students, for this position is about the students. The goal of the job is about helping and providing educational experiences that prepares students emotionally and spiritually for the world.
The Provost, though most people probably didn’t even know what the position held, is quite literally next to the most important role on this campus. It’s a lot of responsibility to retain, and best of luck to Cabrini in finding a new one.
“To our internal and external constituents, being the face of Cabrini University,” said Eury.
