A nominating committee met behind closed doors in Holladay Hall Wednesday to start a nationwide job hunt for a new senior vice provost position.

Particularly, the new senior vice provost will lead the office of Institutional Research and Planning, a new University entity that will replace the existing University Planning and Analysis July 1. 

University Planning and Analysis is currently in charge of providing institutional and survey research, facilitating planning and coordinating accreditation activities. UPA also reports data to agencies such as US NEWS, Princeton Review and other media that may provide college rankings.

The Office of Institutional Research and Planning will have the same functions as University Planning and Analysis but will be an expanded department that will be able to meet the demands of the upcoming Southern Association of Colleges and Schools review while also meeting the demand of regular data requests from other groups.

The senior vice provost for the newly created office of Institutional Research and Planning will be responsible for overseeing University data and surveys as well the process by which the university remains accredited through the SACS. 

According to the job listing, the University is seeking a transformative leader to provide the institutional research and analysis to support successful implementation of its strategic plan, “the pathway to the future.”

The University has not announced any finalists for the position and is still in the preliminary stages of finding a new provost.