UW System President Ray Cross announced four finalists for UW-Stout’s chancellor position Friday, according to a press release.
The 10-member search and screen committee recommended the following candidates:
- Valparaiso University Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Mark Biermann
- Central Washington University Vice President of Academic Innovation and professor of English Katherine Frank
- Pacific Northwest College of Art Interim President Christopher Grant Maples
- Potomac State College of West Virginia University Campus President Jennifer Orlikoff
Search and Screen Committee Chair and UW Regent Jason Plante called the candidates “four very capable, experienced people” bringing “diverse backgrounds, diverse skill sets” in an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio.
Each of the finalists will visit UW-Stout to meet with faculty, staff and students, and each will give online presentations, Plante said. The campus visits will begin Nov. 8 with Biermann’s visit and conclude Nov. 13 with Frank’s visit.
Final interviews will take place Nov. 19, according to WPR. Plante’s goal is to announce the new chancellor at the Board of Regents meeting Dec. 5-6 at UW-Whitewater.
The committee’s selection will replace former UW-Stout Chancellor Bob Meyer, who retired in August after working at the university for 32 years.
This will be the second chancellor appointed under new UW System selection policies — the first being Chancellor Dwight Watson of UW-Whitewater. The policies no longer require selection committees to be majority faculty from the institution in question, instead requiring the 10-member committee to be half Regents.
However, members of the campus community have been active participants in the selection process so far, Plante told WPR.
“We’ve got really, really, strong support and a very good, active group from UW-Stout, faculty, staff and students represented,” Plante said. “And they’ve really gone above and beyond.”
