Greg Haddock, Emporia State’s second provost candidate, visited campus Thursday, Nov. 10. During a forum for students, faculty and community members, he said that he is committed to mending the broken trust between students and administration and being engaged with the campus.
“The vision for me as the chief academic officer (provost), if I’m asked to serve at this institution, is ‘What can we do to make this institution the best in the region, not just the best in the state, and to make it so that it is viable in the very long term?’” Haddock said.
Haddock received a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Idaho in 1996, according to his curriculum vitae. He started his 26 year career at Northwest Missouri State University where he spent 14 years in faculty positions and 12 years in a variety of administrative roles including his current role as associate provost.
“My goal, my expectation, is this (ESU) is the next step that I want to take in a career,” Haddock said. “I want it to be the capitulation of my career, I want to retire in a role such as this.”
During the forum, participants asked questions about the current campus climate after the fallout from the dismissal of 33 faculty and staff and suspension of multiple academic programs in September.
“These recent events have led to some damaged trust between students and administration,” said Bella Price, Associated Student Government president and senior history and education major. “In your role as provost, how would you work at fixing that; building the trust and relationships back up?”
Haddock believes that trust can be mended and said “my word needs to be my word, that means I need to be clear, I need to build trust and keep trust.”
“The very first thing is that anyone who is going to join this institution, especially as the chief academic officer, owns not only the very recent history, but probably the last 10 years of history”, said Haddock. “It should be a commitment that there’s not going to be a separation of ‘I understand that was before I got here.’ That’s not fair, that’s not rational and that’s not respectful to the community.”
Haddock wants to engage in the student body, something he says is missing from his current role as associate provost at NWMSU.
“I want to be visible and ask faculty if I can attend their classes,” Haddock said. “I want faculty to be able to show me their craft. I want students to be able to see that. A point of failure for a provost is if the only time you see them is when you are walking across the stage, getting your diploma.”
The third provost candidate, current interim provost Brent Thomas, spoke at his own forums Monday. The final candidate will visit campus for his forums at 2 p.m. Nov. 17 in the Preston Family Room of the Memorial Union.
