A Message from the Co-Chairs of the Provost Search Advisory Committee
Dear Members of The New School Community,
As you know, The New School is embarking on a search for our next Provost.
The person filling this key position is the Chief Academic Officer, responsible for leading the university’s academic mission and vision and overseeing the faculty and curriculum. A member of the President’s Leadership Team, the Provost is the “first among equals,” meaning that they are the key advisor to the President on all matters related to the academic mission of the university. The Provost also oversees the areas of Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success.
As we prepare to develop a job description and recruit candidates for this role, the Search Advisory Committee has been hosting a series of “inquiry sessions,” during which we are gathering input from our community on the essential skills, experience, and background we seek in the next Provost. We are meeting with a broad range of groups at The New School, including leadership groups from the faculty, staff, and student senates; the Provost’s Senior Staff; the President’s Leadership Team; the College/Executive Deans; and others.
At this time, we write to invite you to an open session for faculty, students, and staff. As we have done at all of our sessions, we will discuss a number of prompts, which are shared below. We invite you, prior to the inquiry session, to discuss these prompts with your representational bodies, constituencies, and colleagues so you can be prepared to discuss these with us when we meet.
- What are the top opportunities that the next Provost of The New School should address?
- What are the most distinguishing and effective aspects of The New School academically? How could the next Provost do more with these attributes?
- When people talk about the Provost, what will you hope that they say?
- What qualities and characteristics should the next Provost possess?
Finally, after we conclude our inquiry sessions, we will share an overview of what we learned with the university community as well as the job description and prospectus that will be developed based on these findings.
The open inquiry session for faculty, students and staff will be Wednesday, Nov.18, 12:00pm-1:30pm via zoom. To register for this session, please submit your information here.
Please note that attendance will be limited to the first 25 people who register, in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas and opportunity for Q&A. If there is sufficient interest, we can add future sessions.
We are grateful, in advance, for your participation in this session.
On behalf of the Search Advisory Committee,
Rachel Schreiber
Co-Chair, Provost Search Advisory Committee
Executive Dean, Parsons School of Design
Darrick Hamilton
Co-Chair, Provost Search Advisory Committee
Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy and University Professor