Alaric Williams, academic affairs vice president at Minot University in North Dakota, wants to be Murray State’s provost for the same reason he had been a faculty member; he wants to make a difference on campus.
He is the last of the four finalists to speak at Wrather Auditorium before their interview for the provost position. Williams said he believes in being a grounded, servant leader.
“I believe in collaborative leadership, I believe in being transparent,” Williams said. “I believe in serving those who I am responsible for. When someone asks me, ‘what is it that I can do?’, I return that question. Say, tell me what I can do to help you be successful in your role? That’s important to me, and so I believe in serving students, I believe in serving staff, and I believe in serving faculty in the entire university.”
His interest in Murray State is the student focus, calling it the University’s “clear identity” in how it works, and said he wants to build on that momentum and develop a culture.
“I looked at your website, I looked at some of the things around town, and every time I saw something, it said student-centered,” Williams said. “It said student focused … there’s a lot of exciting things happening … I also recognize the pride that you have, pride in your academic programs, pride in your community, and so I saw all of that, and thought, absolutely that’s a place I can and see myself.”
Williams’ curriculum vitae is available online for those with a Murray State login.
Besides Williams, other candidates are Kimberly Paddock-O’Reilly, Chadron State College provost; Rose Marie Wood, special consultant to Marshall University provost; and Laurie Couch, Salisbury University provost.
The successor will replace Tim Todd, who was removed from his role effective Nov. 1. Todd filed a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court against Murray State Nov. 25, alleging a breach of contract.
This story was originally published by The Murray State News.
