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Sapiro finalist for Vermont provost
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by Michael Gendall
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Apparently, University of Wisconsin Interim Provost Virginia Sapiro wants out.
Sapiro, the second highest-ranking administrator at UW, is interviewing today with University of Vermont officials about their vacant provost position in Burlington, Vt.
Her visit to Vermont comes just three weeks after a similar trip to the University of Kansas, where Sapiro is also being considered for the vacant provost position.
"There was this public forum that happened today and about 60 people were there," UVM Assistant Communications Director Jeff Wakefield said Monday. "From what I understand, they were very attentive and [Sapiro] was well received."
Despite holding the UW job on an interim basis, UW's Search Committee for a New Provost left Sapiro off a list of finalists in late December.
Prior to her appointment as interim provost at Wisconsin last year, Sapiro had also been a final candidate for provost at Michigan State University, according to the MSU website.
In recent interviews, Sapiro has avoided questions about her UW candidacy, saying it would be inappropriate for her to comment on whether or not she applied for the job on a permanent basis.
Of the three finalists who were named for the open UW position, only two remain after the University of Kentucky quickly claimed Kumble Subbaswamy as its new provost Jan. 6.
While Sapiro is busy mingling with her potential future colleagues in Vermont, UW officials are currently in between their own interview sessions with the two remaining candidates.
UW College of Engineering Associate Dean Patrick Farrell interviewed with UW officials just last week; and Sue Rosser, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will be in Madison at the end of this month for her own meetings.
Sapiro, who has been a UW employee for the past 30 years, said in a Jan. 11 interview a number of different universities have attempted to woo her away from Madison.
"What keeps people here is it's a great university, we have a great community and it's a wonderful place to live," Sapiro said. "[But for me], it's been mostly by loyalty to the institution."
As of press time, Sapiro could not be reached for further comment.
UW spokesperson John Lucas declined comment on Sapiro's candidacy at UVM, citing university policy regarding employees' job searches.
Anonymous (February 14, 2006 @ 1:52pm):
I wouldn't worry too much about her taking a job somewhere else. She is not a warm person, makes a lousy first impression, and is unlikely to be hired in a situation where she has to schmooze a bunch of folks at once. The organization that hires her will either have to hire her based on what's on paper or else know her for, say, 30 years and be able to look past the unfortunate lack of a pleasant personality.
