Emporia State University began interviews for the provost position Monday.
The first finalist to be interviewed was Dr. Angappa Gunasekaran who has been the dean of the School of Business and Public Administration at California State-Bakersfield since 2017. Dr. Gunasekaran has also served at UMass Dartmouth and has held numerous positions abroad in England, Australia, Finland, India and Canada.
Dr. Gunasekaran says he was drawn to Emporia by a combination of the community and the infrastructure of ESU.
If chosen as ESU’s new provost Dr. Gunasekaran says his first major focus will be continuing to help the university navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the “transition” into a post-pandemic setting, Dr. Gunasekaran says he plans to focus on increasing hands-on student learning opportunities and partnerships with local employers to that end. Dr. Gunasekaran added that their are four key areas the university will need to focus on post-pandemic, technology, environment, globalization and community engagement.
The next finalist to be interviewed for the provost position will be Dr. Aimee Shouse the current dean of Arts, Letters and Sciences at Southwest Minnesota State. Dr. Shouse will interview Tuesday.
Additional finalists will interview on March 25 and March 26.
The search for a new provost follows the retirement announcement from current provost David Cordle who will be retiring at the conclusion of the academic year.
