Four faculty members have been selected as finalists in the search to fill the new position of vice provost for instruction.
Juan Garcia, head of the history department, Jim Shockey, associate dean of the college of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Chris Impey, professor of astronomy, and Jerry Hogle, professor of English, were recommended to the provost by the search advisory committee.
Sally Jackson, chair of the search advisory committee, said the new position will require a great deal of focus on general education at the university, and the graduate students and majors within all of the colleges.
"We were searching for someone with administrative experience and a record of distinguished teaching," Jackson said. "Someone with good vision for the future of curriculum and instruction."
Impey, who received his Bachelor's at the University of London and his Ph.D in Scotland, is the director of the graduate program for the department of astronomy.
"Even as an administrator within my department I'm a very active teacher. I teach gen eds each year, I know what the issues are firsthand," Impey said.
Hogle is a distinguished professor and the chair of the Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Council. He started his teaching career at Harvard in 1972 and came to the UA as an associate professor of English in 1974. He has taught a number of general education English courses as well as arts and sciences and cultural studies courses.
Shockey, who has been at the UA since 1985, is a sociology professor and has done research in methods and statistics, family structure and homelessness.
"I took this job (associate dean of SBS) to work towards betterment of education in the college," Shockey said. "The only way I would leave it would be to go to do something like this for the university."
Garcia came to the UA in 1981 and was selected as the head of the history department this summer.
He said he wants to use his departmental experience at the administrative level.
"I see firsthand what's going on at a department level," Garcia said.
Garcia said he wants to respond to the needs of members of the UA community.
"If I'm appointed, I hope to do everything I can to improve the quality of undergraduate education," Garcia said. "I think in some cases, it's just a matter of providing the resources, doing a better job of planning and understanding where the needs are."
Shockey said he would like to make changes that are in the same vein as those already made by the administration.
"With Focused Excellence the president has done a lot of reorganization, I really think there are opportunities to change the student population and academic programs," Shockey said. "I think it's really key that the provost's office communicate with the vice president for enrollment management."
Impey said he would like to make sure the state government keeps in contact with the president and provost's offices.
"Although the UA has been under financial stress, this kind of job has constructive and creative opportunities attached to it," Impey said. "There's actually a chance to change things, make the teaching climate on campus better."
David Cox, the senior associate to the provost, has been handling the responsibilities of the vice provost position since September but will return to his position as the associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences once the new vice provost for instruction is named.
The vice provost for instruction was created after the elimination of the vice president for undergraduate education due to Focused Excellence reorganization.
Jackson would not disclose how much the new vice provost would be paid.
The former vice provost of academic affairs, who retired at the beginning of the summer, earned a little less than $140,000.
Nearly two years ago, when the administration considered hiring a vice provost for diversity, they speculated that the starting salary would be $120,000.
The committee accepted applications for the position on Nov. 1, then interviewed and narrowed the 11 applicants down to four people who were recommended to the provost.
Members of the community will be able to speak to each of the candidates next week during 50-minute forums.
The committee will announce today its recommendations for the vice provost for academic affairs.