DePaul searches for new provost, interim to be appointed

When Helmut Epp announced he would step down as provost at the end of the academic year, the Board of Trustees were left to find someone new to keep the college deans in line to make decisions on and effectively run all of the academic programs in the university.

Rather than rush to fill the position that "is so important to the life of the university," said DePaul President Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, C.M., the board of trustees will appoint an interim provost for the 2012-2013 academic year.

Students will be a part of the selection process. The board and Rev. Holtschneider, who are looking for interim applicants within the university, will launch a website Monday that will allow the entire DePaul community, including students, to submit the names of potential candidates.

Rev. Holtschneider will take the suggestions into consideration when he presents his recommendation to the board, which will make the final decision by Christmas.

The decision to appoint an interim was made after Rev. Holtschneider spoke with an external search firm the university has used in the past, who advised the university against beginning the complicated search process with only a few weeks left in the fall quarter. Rev. Holtschneider spoke to many students, faculty and staff members, who also felt a need for extended time to find a replacement.

"It was unanimous that selecting a new provost would be very rushed and that it would be better to take more time to pick," Rev. Holtschneider said.

The process of searching for a new full-time provost will begin in February.

According to Rev. Holtschneider, the interim provost is not able to apply for the full-time position.

At Wednesday's Faculty Council meeting, one member concerned over this provision, referring to LA&S Dean Chuck Suchar's appointment to the permanent position after serving as the college's interim dean.

Another faculty member said Rev. Holtschneider's call to the university for input was "unprecedented."

In an e-mail from Rev. Holtschneider announcing the board's decision, he stated that the interim provost must "come from the faculty ranks earlier in his or her career and have shown a significant record of progressively responsible administrative acumen and skill, able to handle the many responsibilities of the Provost's office."

Both the interim provost and the future full-time provost have big shoes to fill. Epp, who announced his decision to step-down Oct. 5, has been DePaul's provost for seven years.

Epp left his position as Executive Vice President in 2005 to take the position of Provost. He first demonstrated leadership within the university in 1980 as the founding chair of the Department of Computer Science in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

The department later branched off into its own School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems (CTI). Under his tenure as dean of the school, it became one of the nation's largest schools of computer science and eventually was renamed the College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM).

The College of Communication and the LA&S split into the College of Science to expand opportunities for students all happened under Epp's leadership.

If a favorite professor or faculty member comes to mind, students should submit their suggestions to the website before Thanksgiving.