Marist Searches for Next Provost
Thomas Wermuth, who has been the Vice President for Academic Affairs since 2007 Photo via Marist College.
Marist College is conducting its search for the next Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA). Dr. Thomas Wermuth will vacate the role after leading Marist’s academia for 15 years. The job will also see a title change to “Provost,” a move that conforms closer to traditional high education institutional leadership structures.
“‘Vice president’ suggests a more corporate title and organization while ‘provost’ emphasizes the academic nature of the position and the institution,” said Dr. Nicholas Marshall, a Co-Chair for the VPAA Search Committee.
The provost/VPAA plays a significant role in determining the makeup of a college or university’s faculty. At Marist, the provost is also combined with the dean of faculty. Who fills that role has many responsibilities, such as advocating for the faculty to the administration, ensuring diversity among the faculty, making sure the college is appropriately staffed, as well as more administrative and financial duties.
“The provost needs to be sensitive to those differences and to have a vision for change going forward that accounts for the specific needs of the institution at any one moment,” said Marshall.
EJ Donovan ‘25, the SGA VP of Academic Affairs and a member of the VPAA Search Committee, analyzes the role to be largely about maintaining the day-to-day operations of the college’s academics. “[Wermuth] talks to professors, he talks to deans, he talks to the faculty to figure out what’s going on and if there are any problems, which he’ll try to fix,” said Donovan.
The provost has an acute impact on students’ academic experience by setting the student-to-faculty ratio, how many core classes are taught by part-time vs. full-time faculty and determining what experiences the faculty are bringing to the school.
Because of the broad responsibilities of the job, a good candidate would have to be experienced but also flexible to learn and adapt to different needs. Marshall shared that someone joked during a recent meeting that “[we’re] looking for a unicorn; somebody who can do all these things and has all these different experiences.”
As part of the process for finding the next provost, Marist President Kevin C. Weinman conducted six listening sessions with full-time faculty, part-time faculty, student academic support staff, the President’s Cabinet, school deans and the Student Government Association (SGA) to understand what they feel should be considered important when picking candidates.
Students were also given the opportunity to submit their thoughts and ideas on what experiences, attributes and priorities the next provost should have through a survey. Weinman will take all the feedback he’s collected and his own ideas and send them to Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm, who will produce a job listing that properly captures what the Marist community wishes from the next provost. They will then work to identify the best candidates for the job.
Once candidates have been identified and vetted, they will interview with members of the VPAA Search Committee. In an email to the student body in October, Weinman proclaimed he hoped to bring 2-4 candidates to campus by mid-December for a final round of interviews. If followed, this timeline would allow the next provost to begin the role next semester.
While the search is happening quickly – typically, this process would take about a year – quality is still much more important than timing. “We might find a candidate that’s great but is in a situation where they can’t start until later; it might be a candidate that can start right away,” said Marshall.