The University’s second-in-command, Senior Vice President and Provost Linda Brady, announced June 12 that she will be leaving her current position next Monday to become the new chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. University President Dave Frohnmayer, who recently announced his plans to retire in spring 2009, has appointed the former Dean of the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business to serve as provost for the next two years while the search for a new University president is underway.
Brady had been participating in the confidential search for the UNC chancellor position, which is the North Carolina University System’s equivalent to a university president, since February 2008.
“I wasn’t out looking for a new job,” Brady said. She was contacted by a search firm trying to find qualified candidates for the chancellor position sometime in February.
Brady received official word that she had been selected as the new chancellor on June 12.
“Because it was a closed search, I could not announce anything until this time,” Brady said.
Frohnmayer announced that Jim Bean, Dean of the School of Business, will take over as provost on July 1.
“Under Jim’s guidance, the Lundquist College of Business has grown, prospered, and upheld the highest of academic ideals,” Frohnmayer said in a University press release. “I am confident Jim will provide the same stellar leadership as senior vice president and provost.”
Bean said that he will have a lot of work to do in both continuing projects that began during Brady’s term and tackling new University issues once his term begins.
One of these issues involves the lack of state funds provided to the University, coupled with the very large freshman class that has enrolled for next fall. Bean said that he will be working to find the funds to accommodate these freshmen.
Bean said he is impressed with what has been done to handle the situation thus far, however.
“People have really gotten out in front of this one,” Bean said.
Brady said that the state of North Carolina has a much stronger commitment to funding higher education than the state of Oregon does. This influenced her decision to take the chancellor position at UNC, she said.
“The funding issue is a real problem at the University of Oregon,” Brady said. In North Carolina, she said, the increased state funding will make it easier to take the university in the direction she wants to take it.
Brady said that 36 percent of UNC’s budget comes from state funds, whereas state funds only represent 13 percent of UO’s budget.
Brady said on Monday that she will be spending the week meeting with Bean to give him a sense of where the University is at and where some of the main challenges lie.
Bean said that he plans initially to meet with faculty and student groups to get an idea of what is needed in the various departments.
After serving as dean of the School of Business since 2004, Bean said he has a detailed understanding of how schools interact with the Provost’s Office.
Bean’s appointment was designed to be most beneficial to the new University president who will take over after a year-long search in fall 2009.
Bean said that it will be beneficial to the new president to have a provost who has been in the position for a year. His second year in the position will allow the new president time to head his or her own search for a new provost.
“It’s not uncommon for both these positions to turn over at the same time,” Brady said.
Brady said that this will give the new president the ability to both choose his or her own provost and possibly redefine the position.
Brady is both excited to begin her new position in North Carolina and sad to leave the University.
“It’s really hard to leave because I feel like we’ve got some good things going here,” she said.
Robin Holmes, the vice president of student affairs, said she is excited for Brady. “It’s something that she really wanted, and it’s going to be a good fit for her,” Holmes said.
[email protected]