Dordt College has begun the process of hiring a new Provost by putting together a Provost Search Committee.

“The Provost Search Committee is made up of ten faculty members, administrative staff members, a Board of Trustee member who will chair this committee, and one student,” said Sue Droog, Director of Human Resources.

The committee will meet once a week to get things started and will continue to meet as needed and as often as necessary to work through each part of the process.

“Our roles as committee members will be to collect feedback from the faculty and others in the campus community regarding this position, prepare a position profile and job description, and handle all advertising,” said Droog.

The Provost is the chief academic officer of the college.  Administratively, they are second in command.  If the President is off campus, the Provost is responsible for campus duties.  They need to be able to lead the campus and faculty according to the mission statement of Dordt College.

Until he became President this year, Erik Hoekstra served as the Provost.  Now an appointed search committee is in the process of searching for someone to fill the position.  During this process, Jim Bos, Registrar; Leah Zuidema, Professor of English; and Bethany Schuttinga, Vice President of Student Services, are splitting the role.

“The charge from the President to this committee is to develop a pool of qualified candidates and narrow this pool to 2-4 finalists for the President to consider,” said Droog.

“The hiring of a Provost is very important and the process is important.  The Committee appreciates the prayers from the campus and community,” said Jim Bos, Registrar.

This work of the committee will last until March 1 when the committee passes on names of potential candidates to the Board.  It’s a long and challenging process, but Bos says with prayer and support they are confident it will be positive.

When the committee has passed on the names, the President will review them and make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees.  The Board will then make the final hiring decision.

“The committee covets the prayers of the campus community for the work of the committee, as well as for those candidates and their families God is preparing to engage in this process with us,” said Droog.

Rachel Mulder, Staff Writer