Provost search under way

As of February 17, AUBG received 42 applications for the soon-to-be-vacant AUBG provost seat. After conducting interviews with their favorite candidates in April, the Provost Search Committee (PSC) will present a three-candidate shortlist to President Huwiler.

“Unfortunately I cannot disclose more information about the candidates as a matter of their confidentiality, but I can say that we have some interesting hits, academics with a lot of experience and practice, coming from diverse backgrounds and parts of the world,” Teodora Toneva, Student Government senator and member of the PSC, said. She said she plans to keep the students up to date on the progress of the search process through the SG.

The provost search process started in the beginning of February. “We started by first forming the search committee, I was put in charge as a chair of the committee and two faculty members [Orlin Stoychev and Lucia Miree] were assigned by the [Faculty] Assembly. Also, there is a student representative and a staff representative,” professor Didar Erdinç said.

AUBG hired a company called Academic Search to assist in the process of finding a provost. James Ferrare, senior consultant at Academic Search, is conducting the research together with the PSC. “He already had a tour around Blagoevgrad and had meetings with different members of the faculty,” Edlira Dashi, student representative to the Board of Trustees, said.

On January 20, a formal lunch was organized with Dr. Ferrare and members of the student body. The formal lunch was one of the stages of the search. Dr. Ferrare, as the one assigned to help AUBG find potential applicants for the position, will visit Bulgaria several times during the process.

In April, interviews will be held with preferred applicants in the United States to further shorten the list of candidates. In the end, the list will be presented to President David Huwiler, who will have the final say. “The process is going extremely well so far,” Erdinç said.