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Dear аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÄÚÄ»ÐÅÏ¢community,

I am writing to share an important update in the search for our next Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.

After a thorough national search, our broadly representative search committee interviewed eight candidates, all with extensive and accomplished backgrounds in higher education. Earlier this week, at its publicly held meeting, the committee selected four finalists to advance to campus visits:

• Pranesh B. Aswath, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Policy, University of Texas at Arlington
• Eric M. Eisenberg, Interim Provost and Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Florida
• Erin McNamara Horvat, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement and Undergraduate Affairs, Drexel University
• Giovanni Piedimonte, Vice President of Research and Institutional Official, Tulane University

The next steps in the process will include valuable opportunities for community engagement and feedback. Each candidate will visit all three campuses and will participate in a town hall at each location. Campus visits and town halls will take place Oct. 12, 13, 17 and 18. Town halls will also be available via livestream for those who may not be able to attend in person.  The link to the livestreams will be available on the provost search website.

Tampa campus town halls – Patel Center for Global Sustainability (CGS) room 136

• Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2:30 p.m. – Pranesh B. Aswath
• Thursday, Oct. 13, 2:30 p.m. – Eric M. Eisenberg
• Monday, Oct. 17, 2:30 p.m. – Erin McNamara Horvat
• Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2:30 p.m. – Giovanni Piedimonte

St. Petersburg campus town halls – University Student Center (USC) Ballroom

• Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1:00 p.m. – Eric M. Eisenberg
• Thursday, Oct. 13, 1:30 p.m. – Pranesh B. Aswath
• Monday, Oct. 17, 1:00 p.m. – Giovanni Piedimonte
• Tuesday, Oct. 18, 9:00 a.m. –Erin McNamara Horvat

Sarasota-Manatee campus town halls – specific locations noted below

• Wednesday, Oct. 12, 9:00 a.m. at Selby Auditorium – Eric M. Eisenberg
• Thursday, Oct. 13, 9:00 a.m. at Selby Auditorium – Pranesh B. Aswath
• Monday, Oct. 17, 9:00 a.m. at Selby Auditorium – Giovanni Piedimonte
• Tuesday, Oct. 18, 1:00 p.m. at B229 – Erin McNamara Horvat

Members of the аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÄÚÄ»ÐÅÏ¢community are encouraged to submit questions in advance for consideration at the town halls at

Following each town hall, you will be able to submit feedback via an online portal with your thoughts and comments about each candidate that I will review prior to making my final selection for our next provost.

In addition to the town halls, each candidate will meet with several other groups from across the university during their visits. 

I want to thank John Ramil and Dr. Balaji Padmanabhan for serving as chair and vice chair of the committee, as well as the entire committee for their diligence in leading a transparent process to create the position profile, support recruiting efforts and interview the candidates. The team at Storbeck Search and Diversified Search Group, led by Shelly Weiss Storbeck, has done a tremendous job in guiding us through this process and I cannot be more grateful to them for attracting such a strong and diverse pool of candidates. I’m also appreciative of the entire аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²ÊÄÚÄ»ÐÅÏ¢community’s interest and excitement as we select our next provost who will help us continue our momentum and provide important leadership as we pursue our goals and strategic priorities.

Please continue to monitor the provost search website for further updates.

Sincerely,

Rhea F. Law
President