WINGATE — As Wingate University searches for its first provost in nearly two decades, officials say there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
According to consultant Caroline Whitson, the university’s most pressing need is for someone to strengthen the infrastructure that is in place.
“Sometimes you say, ‘We’ve been doing the same old thing for a long time, and we need somebody with some new program ideas,’” said Whitson, with Academic Search, the Washington, D.C.-based company that is helping Wingate recruit a provost. “That’s not the reality here. The reality is that you have a lot of exciting new programs. You just need somebody who can create the structures and the processes to make those programs as effective as they can be.”
Whitson, the consultant assigned to Wingate’s provost search, said it should take until about mid-April to do the “heavy-duty recruiting.” Semifinalists will be interviewed in April, with finalists interviewed in mid-May – probably soon after commencement, which will be held May 14.
That timeline could be pushed to the fall, Whitson said, if the university needs more time to find the right candidate.
The provost will serve as the chief academic officer, overseeing undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. Currently, Dr. Martha Asti, senior vice president of academic affairs, oversees undergraduate programs. Dr. Bob Supernaw, dean of the School of Pharmacy, is vice president for graduate and professional programs.
“Clearly the thing that is going to attract people is the fact that Wingate is in very good condition,” Whitson said. “This has been a rough time for independent colleges, and Wingate has done well and has managed to thrive. It has now become — I don’t want to say a victim of its own success — but it’s grown so much that it really needs a dynamic academic leader who can pull together all the various parts that make it a university that currently are not necessarily all talking to each other all the time for the best benefit of the student.”
Whitson said the ideal candidate will be a “really dynamic, inspirational, visionary leader.”
Whitson spent some time on campus last month talking to faculty, staff and administration. She held an open forum at the Levine College of Health Sciences to learn more about what attributes Wingate employees would like to see in a provost. The three finalists will also each spend a day on campus, meeting with employees in their own open forums.
Wingate has had two provosts in its history. Larry Ziglar and Bill Christie each held the title while serving Wingate in the 1990s.