UND Today

University of North Dakota’s Official News Source

Provost search begins

In letter to UND community, President Andy Armacost announces listening sessions as prelude to provost search

In a letter to the UND community, President Armacost announced Beth Bjerke and David Flynn as co-chairs of the provost search committee.

Following is the text of a letter to the UND community from President Armacost:

Dear Members of the UND Community,

We’ve spent much time lately working on and speaking about our response to COVID-19. At the same time, we must look strategically to UND’s future. One of the most important decisions I will make this year is who we hire as our next Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Yet, I do not view this as simply my decision, but our decision. Consequently, our search process must involve the full campus, and our success will be the result of your contributions and the efforts of our search committee.

I have selected Dr. Beth Bjerke of the Odegard School and Dr. David Flynn of the Nistler College to serve as the co-chairs of the search committee. Supporting the search as our chief administrative officer is Jen Rogers from Finance and Operations. We are supported by the executive search firm AGB Search and their consultants Janice Fitzgerald and Jim McCormick. Our search committee will comprise nominees received from our senates, deans, and vice presidents, and we will announce its members next week.

We will hold a large set of campus listening sessions next week to gain a broad perspective about what the members of our community wish to see in their next provost. The upcoming schedule of events, all via Zoom, is the following:

Tuesday, Sept. 15:

  • Faculty 8 – 9 a.m.
  • Students 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
  • Faculty 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 16:

  • Staff 8 – 8:50 a.m.
  • Students 9:05 – 9:55 a.m.
  • Faculty 10:10 – 11 a.m.
  • Open 11:15 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.
  • Open 12:20 – 1:10 p.m.
  • Staff 1:25 – 2:15 p.m.
  • Faculty 2:30 – 3:20 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 17:

  • Students 12 – 1 p.m.
  • Open 2 – 3 p.m.

As you prepare to attend a session, please reflect upon the following three questions, and if you are not able to attend in person, we will make sure you have the link to submit your comments online:

  • What characteristics would you like to see in our next Provost?
  • What challenges do you believe the University and Provost will face?
  • Why would someone want to come to UND?

I look forward to your involvement in this important search. Keep your eyes open for the links to next week’s Zoom rooms, which we will distribute early next week.

With gratitude,

Andy Armacost
President