Fort Lewis College President Tom Stritikus formed a search committee to find a new provost to replace Interim Provost Jesse Peters in late November 2018.

In an email sent to the general FLC community Stritikus announced the members of the committee and shared the charge they were given.

The search committee features 11 people to ensure that the college is represented. The committee has members of all three schools, faculty representation and a student seat.

By having a member from each school, faculty members who are not sitting on the committee will know who they go to for voicing concerns related to the search, search committee chair Anne McCarthy said.

The committee was put together the same week that Stritikus announced the provost search, McCarthy said.

Before Christmas Break, Witt/Kieffer, the same company who helped the presidential search committee find Stritikus last year, held two days of listening sessions with the FLC community to learn about the institution's needs regarding a new provost, McCarthy said.

“The goal is for that group to really know our institution well and understand our needs,” McCarthy said.

The committee will not start seeing applicants until the search closes on March 1, she said. Until then, the committee doesn't have much work to do besides planning logistics for later parts of the search process.

After applications close March 1, the first round of interviews will be held during the week of March 25. Between April 4 and 12 there will be on-campus interviews before a new provost is announced approximately on May 1.

The new provost will start in the position July 1, 2019.

The provost reports directly to the president of the college, sits as a member of their cabinet and makes decisions on the promotion and tenure of faculty, McCarthy said.

“The president goes along with, typically goes for the recommendation of the provost on promotion and tenure of faculty members,” she said.

The provost will work to implement ideas that are agreed upon in the strategic plan.

Associated Students of Fort Lewis College President Chance Salway is a member of the committee and said that he tries to bring in all perspectives to the table.

The committee must stay keen on the topic of diversity and continue to uphold the values of the institution, Salway said.

Any recommendations can be sent to the email associated with the search FLCProvost@wittkieffer.com or sent directly to members of the search committee, Salway said.

“I'm not going to limit and restrict students to being able to reach out to me,” Salway said. “If students have any concerns about the provost search or anything that they would like me to make sure to mention and to consider with the provost search they can feel free to express as much as they would like.”