Emporia State’s interim provost R. Brent Thomas spoke to campus during a forum Monday about his experience and plans for healing, trust and optimism and taking action for the future. He is the third of four candidates for the university’s open provost position.

“Given where we are as an institution right now, with the specific issues we’ve got at hand, I think it would be faster and more effective for me to step into that role and do those things,” Thomas said. “Rather than expect an outsider to come in and try to do them.”

Thomas has been at ESU since 2006, according to his curriculum vitae. He has served in several roles, including professor and chair of the biological sciences department. He is currently dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as interim provost.

“I think that experience, my deep commitment to the institution, knowledge of this institution and the relationships that I have spent almost two decades building will prove very useful in helping the university move forward,” Thomas said.

In September, ESU dismissed 33 faculty and staff and suspended multiple programs after approval from the Kansas Board of Regents. This was because of “extreme financial pressures accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased program and university enrollment, and state fiscal issues,” according to the Workforce Management Framework that justified the mass dismissals and suspensions. Thomas defended the decisions during an emergency faculty senate meeting Sept. 9 and during an interview with The Bulletin Sept. 21.

Thomas said he would work to heal the damaged trust and relationships from those decisions as a first priority. 

“We need to mourn our losses, and that’s okay,” Thomas said. “We need to heal, we need to restore and rebuild trust and relationships. We can’t move forward with focusing on the future and being optimistic until we handle those first things.”

He said he would do so by making the time for “organic conversations” by wandering around campus buildings. Thomas admitted to feeling “disconnected” from faculty and students since the COVID-19 pandemic and said he wants to fix that.

Thomas said he would also repair trust by building processes “openly and transparently and collaboratively.”

“Any place where trust has been harmed or diminished, we all– including myself– need to double our efforts and be very intentional to find ways to restore and rebuild that trust and those relationships,” Thomas said. “And I believe that we can do that.”

Additionally, Thomas said ESU needs to stop “kicking the can down the road.” 

“Inaction will not work for us,” Thomas said. “Doing nothing will not work for us. The outcome of doing nothing is not acceptable. We have to do things.”

He said there needs to be a sense of urgency and ESU needs to do better at monitoring, evaluating and adapting to changing environments. He suggested creating an internal process for “meaningful program review” where everyone participates and everyone can see the results. This process would happen more often than the Kansas Board of Regents review, which he said takes place every eight years.

When it is time to respond to the results of these reviews, ESU may have to make some difficult decisions, according to Thomas. Programs may need to be discontinued or be refocused.

“We as an institution, in order to be stable and sustainable, we’ve got to be doing a better job at this long term, year after year,” Thomas said. “We can’t let this stuff build up until we have to do things of the magnitude we would rather not do.”

Thomas made other points about improving faculty retention by having a shared understanding of ESU’s purpose; enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion work by offering visiting professorships and partnering with institutions that serve traditionally underrepresented groups; engaging in more outreach programs to expose more children to ESU’s opportunities; and becoming a more “focused” institution.

The final provost candidate, Alberto Ruiz, will be visiting campus for open forums beginning 2 p.m. Thursday in the Preston Family Room.

The provost will hopefully be announced by Dec. 1, according to interim provost and dean of The Teachers College Joan Brewer.