This just in:
Greg Kealey To Assume New Role as Provost
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Greg Kealey will become UNBs first Provost effective July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2011. The Board of Governors has approved the addition of a new Provost mandate to Dr. Kealeys continuing position as Vice-President Research during this time.
As Provost, Dr. Kealey will assume enhanced responsibility for academic leadership during what is expected to be a period of accelerated change and transition in the next few years.
Later this spring, the Provincial Government should announce its plans for a new integrated and innovative post secondary education system. Based on the recommendations of the Post Secondary Education Working Group, I anticipate an ambitious agenda ranging from greater cooperation among New Brunswick universities to a new funding model that potentially ties future provincial grants to strategic plans developed by each institution. UNB will be at the centre of this agenda, and will require an overall academic leader to coordinate university-wide academic planning within our strategic planning process and to develop new and stronger academic relations with other post secondary institutions.
The recently appointed Commission on Inter-Campus Relations has a mandate to make recommendations for long-term governance and administrative mechanisms which could result in changes to existing structures and the UNB Act. These changes would take some time to implement and the Provost will fill the immediate need for overall academic leadership during this bridging period.
In recent years, UNB has realigned the traditional Vice-President Academic function and distributed academic responsibilities among two campus Vice-Presidents and the Vice-President Research. We expect to appoint new campus Vice-Presidents who will take office in the Summer of 2008.
The Provost will act in concert with me and the reconstituted team of Vice-Presidents to lead academic planning and the administration of academic matters of university-wide significance in the period ahead. The Provost role will be reviewed after three years.
Dr. Kealey has significant experience at UNB and other Canadian universities, and has demonstrated effective academic leadership on both campuses in the areas of research and graduate studies. I am delighted that he has agreed to take on an enhanced mandate as Provost at this critical time. I hope you will join with me in supporting him in his expanded role.
John McLaughlin
President and Vice-Chancellor
