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Search for new provost narrowed to five

The search to fill the position of provost and senior vice president for academic affairs has been narrowed to five candidates. The position was opened when current University of Arizona provost Paul Sypherd announced in November that he would step down at the end of this academic year.

The candidates are Michael Gottfredson, vice president for undergraduate education; Ramon Gutierrez, associate chancellor and professor of ethnic studies and history at the University of California San Diego; Holly Smith, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; George Davis, Regents professor of geosciences; and Paul Armstrong, dean of the college of Arts and Sciences at State University of New York at Stonybrook.

Richard Powell, vice president of research and graduate studies and chair of the search committee, said consideration must be given to "the whole flavor of this institution and all the things you handle as a provost."

"We, then, picked the top 10 that fit the needs of this university," Powell added.

The committee then narrowed the candidate pool to five.

The job of a UA provost is to lead, organize and respond to the students, faculty and individual college deans.

Open forums for each candidate will begin on April 28 and will be an opportunity for faculty, staff and students to express their opinions of the candidates. Following the forums, the committee will "go over all the input," Powell said, and pick who they believe is best suited for the position.

Though the committee makes a selection, the final decision is left to UA President Peter Likins.

"We simply recommend to the president, Likins makes the choice," Powell said.