Scott outlines immediate plans
Larry Fleury
Issue date: 5/7/09 Section: Front Page
The chairwoman of the Kansas Board of Regents praised Steve Scott as the right pick for PSU president because he is student-oriented.
Donna Shank spoke at a ceremony Tuesday to formally introduce the ninth president of PSU to students, faculty, staff and the community.
"Scott has senior administrative goals and demonstrated the challenge of a rapidly changing environment," she said.
About 60 people from across the country applied for the job, with four finalists selected for on-campus interviews.
"We took three of those finalists and found that Dr. Scott was the man for the job," Shank said. "This is a bittersweet day for him, a bittersweet day for us."
At the ceremony, Scott told the audience that he remembers when President Tom Bryant was introduced as the eighth president and thanked him for what he has done for PSU.
"Dr. Bryant has helped me grow," Scott said. "What a great guy. He helped me get into this position with ease."
Scott is currently the university's provost and vice president for academic affairs and says before he takes on the role of president, he needs to wrap up duties in his current position.
"I have some immediate plans for the future," Scott said. "I'm still the provost and I have quite a few things to take care of in this role. I have to replace myself. I have to generate a process to get the right people involved. We have a lot of budget issues to deal with, so that is my immediate focus."
Scott says that an interim provost will be named for the next academic year, until a national search is conducted.
"I'll have a letter out to the campus, Thursday or Friday, depending on how the week goes, calling for nominations," Scott said. "We would expect that person to have at least five years of administrative experience and certainly hold academic rank. There is a very small group of people who are ready to do this job."
He said the next provost should be someone with leadership experience in higher education.
"We've got a lot of people moving forward and we need someone who will care about it and do a good job with it. At the same time, we've got to do a broader search to find the right person."
Donna Shank spoke at a ceremony Tuesday to formally introduce the ninth president of PSU to students, faculty, staff and the community.
"Scott has senior administrative goals and demonstrated the challenge of a rapidly changing environment," she said.
About 60 people from across the country applied for the job, with four finalists selected for on-campus interviews.
"We took three of those finalists and found that Dr. Scott was the man for the job," Shank said. "This is a bittersweet day for him, a bittersweet day for us."
At the ceremony, Scott told the audience that he remembers when President Tom Bryant was introduced as the eighth president and thanked him for what he has done for PSU.
"Dr. Bryant has helped me grow," Scott said. "What a great guy. He helped me get into this position with ease."
Scott is currently the university's provost and vice president for academic affairs and says before he takes on the role of president, he needs to wrap up duties in his current position.
"I have some immediate plans for the future," Scott said. "I'm still the provost and I have quite a few things to take care of in this role. I have to replace myself. I have to generate a process to get the right people involved. We have a lot of budget issues to deal with, so that is my immediate focus."
Scott says that an interim provost will be named for the next academic year, until a national search is conducted.
"I'll have a letter out to the campus, Thursday or Friday, depending on how the week goes, calling for nominations," Scott said. "We would expect that person to have at least five years of administrative experience and certainly hold academic rank. There is a very small group of people who are ready to do this job."
He said the next provost should be someone with leadership experience in higher education.
"We've got a lot of people moving forward and we need someone who will care about it and do a good job with it. At the same time, we've got to do a broader search to find the right person."
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