University News
Provost Interviews Scheduled
October 11, 2011
MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – Four candidates for the Western Illinois University provost and vice president for academic affairs position will be on WIU's campuses for interviews Oct. 17-19, Oct. 19-21, Oct. 26-28 and Oct. 31-Nov. 2, according to Steven Rock, search committee chair.
Candidates include Ken Hawkinson, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at WIU; Tom Erekson, dean of the WIU College of Business and Technology; Philip Way, associate provost for undergraduate programs and business professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Dale Ostlie, professor of physics and former dean of the College of Science at Weber State University (Ogden, UT).
Hawkinson will interview Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 17-19. Open sessions will be held from 1:45-2:45 p.m. (department chairs and academic directors), 2:50-3:50 p.m. (civil service, COAP), 4-5 p.m. (faculty) and 5-6 p.m. (SGA, students, community members, and campus open meeting) Tuesday, Oct. 18 in the University Union Capitol Rooms on the WIU-Macomb campus and from 1:45 p.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19 for WIU-QC students, faculty and staff at the WIU-Quad Cities 60th Street campus.
Hawkinson has served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at WIU since 2011. Prior to that appointment, he was the associate provost and associate vice president for budget, planning and personnel from 2007-2011. Hawkinson has also served as associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at WIU (2005-2007) and as chair of the department of communication (1997-2007). He joined the WIU department of communication faculty in 1988. Hawkinson also served in the U.S. Army (1979-1982) and was a Peace Corps volunteer (1986-1988). He earned his doctorate from Southern Illinois University (1986), and his master's and bachelor's degrees from WIU (1979; 1978).
Erekson will interview Wednesday-Friday, Oct. 19-21. Open sessions will be held from 1:45-2:45 p.m. (department chairs, academic directors), 2:50-3:50 p.m. (civil service, COAP), 4-5 pm. (faculty) and 5-6 p.m. (SGA, students, community members and campus open meeting) Thursday, Oct. 20 in the University Union Heritage Rooms on the WIU-Macomb campus and from 1:45 p.m.-3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 for WIU-QC students, faculty and staff at the WIU-Quad Cities 60th Street campus.
Erekson has served as the College of Business and Technology dean and as a business professor at WIU since June 2006. Prior to joining WIU's faculty, he was the founding director of the School of Technology and a professor, Fulton College of Engineering Technology, at Brigham Young University from 1998- 2006. He has also served as the College of Technology dean and professor at Bowling Green State University (1991-1998); as chair and professor of the department of industrial, technological and occupational education at the University of Maryland, College Park (1989-1991); and he has held chair and/or faculty positions at the University of Illinois, Champaign (1986-1989), the University of Wyoming (1984-1986); and Northern Illinois University (1977-1984). He obtained his doctorate and master's degrees from the University of Illinois (1979; 1975), and his bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University (1974).
Way will interview Wednesday-Friday, Oct. 26-28. Open sessions will be from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26 for WIU-QC students, faculty and staff at the WIU-Quad Cities 60th Street campus and from 1:45-2:45 p.m. (department chairs, academic directors), 2:50-3:50 p.m. (civil service, COAP), 4-5 p.m. (faculty) in the University Union Capitol Rooms on the WIU-Macomb campus and 5-6 p.m. (SGA, students, community members and campus open meeting) in the Union Cardinal-Oak Room Thursday, Oct. 27
Way has served as associate provost for undergraduate programs and as an economics professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham since 2006. Prior to that appointment, he served in various positions at the University of Cincinnati from 1985-2006, including assistant and associate professor, assistant head and director of undergraduate studies in the economics department; as the director of graduate studies for the Center for Organizational Leadership; and as the director of the University Honors Scholars Program. He has also worked as a research assistant at Oxford University, as well as a lecturer at Oxford, as a tutor at the University of Warwick (U.K.) and as a teaching fellow at Harvard University. He obtained his doctorate and master's degrees from the University of Warwick, and his bachelor's degree from Cambridge University.
Ostlie will interview Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 31-Nov. 2. Open sessions will be held from 1:45-2:45 p.m. (department chairs, academic directors), 2:50-3:50 p.m. (civil service, COAP), 4-5 p.m. (faculty) and 5-6 p.m. (SGA, students, community members and campus open meeting) Tuesday, Nov. 1 in the University Union Capitol Rooms on the WIU-Macomb campus and from 1:45 p.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2 for WIU-QC students, faculty and staff at the WIU-Quad Cities 60th Street campus.
Ostlie served as the dean of the College of Science at Weber State University from 2003-2011. He currently serves as a physics professor at Weber State, a position he has held since 1984. Prior to that, he was the department of physics chair at Weber from 1996-2003. Ostlie has also served as a collaborator (T6 - Theoretical Astrophysics) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (1985-1994); as a consultant for the Guide Star Selection System for the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore (1983); and as a visiting assistant professor of physics at Bates College in Maine (1982-1984). He earned his doctorate from Iowa State University (1982) and his bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College (1977).
The provost and vice president for academic affairs serves as the chief academic officer of the University with responsibility for academic and internal leadership. The provost reports directly to the president and is the primary representative of the president in his absence. The provost leads the University-wide community to promote the highest academic standards and the University's core values at both the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses; provides leadership in planning, developing, implementing and assessing all academic programs; has primary responsibility for contract administration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement for faculty and support staff and a significant portion of the University budget; provides overall leadership for continued growth of international and life-long learning programs, distance education, faculty development and the Honors College; and supervises senior staff and many service areas that are responsible for achieving the University's established major goals identified by the president and the Board of Trustees.
Complete candidate interview schedules and vitas are available at wiu.edu/employment.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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