More than 100 faculty members sent an email to University of Arizona senior leadership endorsing Marie Hardin for the provostship.
The email, obtained by the Arizona Daily Star, also bashed the other candidate for provost presented by the search committee, Joseph Glover. Hardin is dean of the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University while Glover is the former provost at the University of Florida.
The email sent Tuesday was addressed to UA President Robert C. Robbins, Interim Provost Ron Marx, Interim Chief Financial Officer John Arnold, the provost search committee and the Arizona Board of Regents.
“We believe (Hardin) has the experience, skills, track record, and perhaps most importantly, the necessary thoughtful and collaborative leadership style to bring UA together to harness the best of what we have to offer as a collective,” the letter reads. “In each of the immediate and forthcoming challenges that we face, Dean Hardin has demonstrated substantial and meaningful success.”
The email was signed by professors, lecturers, department heads and faculty senators.
The letter says the faculty were “impressed” by Hardin’s “commitment to the values of diversity and engagement of community that are central to our identity as a Hispanic serving institution and a land-grant university.”
It is not just an endorsement of Hardin’s candidacy, however. The letter also criticizes Glover, the other finalist.
Joseph Glover
“His time with department heads was off-putting in regard to his not believing a provost should have much contact or interaction with them, demonstrating an apparent lack of understanding or commitment to the collective work,” the letter reads. “He seems to be a divisive candidate who will generate open resistance across a broad swath of the campus faculty and academic leadership.”
Among their other concerns, the faculty wrote that Glover had a “very odd and concerning response” about being a provost at a Hispanic serving institution.
“Our sense is that he has neither an understanding of nor a commitment to the values that define us as a land grant, and that constitute important areas of strategic opportunity and competitive advantage.”
Hispanic serving institution is a federal designation by the U.S. Department of Education of universities with 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic student enrollment.
Land grant universities, established by law in 1862, were initially created to teach agriculture, science and engineering. Now, the universities provide education, research and outreach meant to benefit their communities and address societal needs. The UA is one of 57 land grant universities in the country.
The faculty members also wrote that Glover “seems unduly focused on rankings” and that “he did not impress us as an effective communicator internally.”
Hardin, on the other hand, according to the faculty members, had strong communication skills and a “record of speaking clearly, openly and effectively about major issues confronting universities internally and in highly charged political contexts, including in the area of athletics (her area of scholarship).”
The top three candidates chosen by the provost search committee arrived to campus in March and April. They gave presentations to faculty and staff and met with various shared governance and leadership groups.
Besides Glover and Hardin, Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, dean of the University of North Carolina School of Education, was a finalist. He withdrew earlier this month, however, after accepting the provostship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
UA President Robbins announced in May 2023 that Liesl Folks would step down as provost, a post that paid her $497,490 a year. There has been a nationwide search over the last year. The provost oversees all academic programs and units.
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