Whitaker decides to leave Iowa State
January 25, 2001
As a long-time faculty member prepares to leave Iowa State, applications for her position are being considered.Faye Whitaker, associate provost, said she is leaving Iowa State to devote more time to her interests outside of work. “I’m certainly not leaving because I don’t like my job,” she said. “I have a job I enjoy very much, and that’s attributable to people who have been willing to teach me about the university. I just have a life I enjoy, too.”The position of associate provost involves dealing primarily with faculty on issues such as recruitment, development and evaluation. They are also expected to advise the provost.Whitaker said the job is never boring.”It’s interesting,” she said. “You meet wonderful people, you think about academic issues and you can be part of decision making in a university.”Provost Rollin Richmond said they would like a current ISU faculty member to fill the associate provost position. “They bring a faculty perspective to [the provost’s] office,” he said. “It’s important to have that perspective in this office.”The candidates should have a background in the humanities or social sciences, Richmond said.”It helps to have people from differing disciplinary perspectives,” he said.While the starting date of the position is negotiable, Richmond said he would like the qualified candidate to start as soon as possible.”Dr. Whitaker possesses a great deal of knowledge about ISU and the provost’s office,” he said. “It would be very helpful if the new person could work with her for a few weeks.”Whitaker said her term at Iowa State would end when the next associate provost felt comfortable in their new position.”We will look for ways to build a good transition so the person can feel at home with the position,” she said.Whitaker also advised her future replacement to avoid concentrating on short-term goals.”Think about the long range,” she said. “It’s easy in administrative roles to get confounded by day-to-day duties.”