Two weeks into his tenure, Dr. Scott Scarborough, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, has announced additional changes to the division’s organizational structure.
Vice Provost Marcia King Blandford, who has a master’s degree in library science from the University of Michigan, will become the new interim director of University Libraries. Terry Romer, formerly in Institutional Research, will serve as the University’s new interim registrar.
“The most important aspects of this reorganization are to maximize the individual strengths of people in Academic Affairs and to reduce the number of people reporting directly to the provost so the relationships are healthy and supportive,” Scarborough said.
The reorganization reduces the number of direct reports to the provost from 27 to 19, and it positions Margaret Traband, vice provost for academic policy and faculty affairs, to assume a managerial role in the Office of the Provost. Furthermore, it positions Dr. Tom Gutteridge to function as a liaison to the deans of the 10 colleges that report to the provost, Scarborough said.
The first round of changes, announced last week, included the addition of Gutteridge, former dean of the College of Business and Innovation, to the Office of the Provost and a change in reporting line of Dr. Kaye Patten Wallace and Student Affairs from the president to the provost.
“It is to everyone’s benefit that the Office of the Provost functions in an effective manner,” Scarborough said. “I am excited about these changes. I believe they enable Academic Affairs to function more efficiently than it has in the past.”
