By Abby Haywood and Blace Carpenter
Grand Rapids Community College has announced the four finalists for the next provost
The college worked with Gold Hill Associates to commence a national search after the previous GRCC Provost, Brian Knetl, was named president of Waubonsee Community College. Today marks the first day of a series of individual campus visits with the four finalists. Each candidate will meet with faculty, students, and other internal campus teams between May 17 and 25.
Matthew Reed, who is on campus today, holds a Ph.D. in political science from Rutgers University and is the Senior Executive Officer in Residence at the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. He is also the author of the book “Confessions of a Community College Administrator” and the blog Confessions of a Community College Dean at Inside Higher Ed.
Emmanuel Awuah, who is visiting campus on May 18, has worked in higher education for over 25 years, serving as vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer at St. Cloud Technical & Community College and Illinois Central College. Awuah has a Ph.D. in Sociology and Urban Studies from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Guelph.
Steven Erickson, who will be at GRCC on May 22, has more than 20 years of higher education experience and is currently the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness and Technology Solutions at Minnesota State Community and Technical College. He has a doctoral degree in higher education from Concordia University, an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Davis, and a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa.
John Fields, who will be visiting on May 25, is the Executive Vice President of Learning & Student Success at Blue Mountain Community College in Oregon. He has a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers School of Law, a M.A. in French literature, a B.A. in French language and culture from the University of Florida, and an A.A. from Florida Community College.
Forms will be held from 3-4 p.m. in the auditorium of the Applied Technology Center (ATC), room 168. They can also be joined virtually from the links at the bottom of the provost search website.
