News

La Crosse in search of chancellor

For the third time in nine months, former University of Wisconsin-Madison interim provost Virginia Sapiro has been named a finalist for an open leadership position at a different institution.

UW System President Kevin Reilly announced Friday that Sapiro, the current UW-Madison Associate Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, is one of five finalists to become the next chancellor at UW-La Crosse.

The Board of Regents' Special Committee for the UW-La Crosse Chancellor Search will interview the finalists Nov. 1. The committee, chaired by Regent Brent Smith of La Crosse, will make its final recommendation to the complete Board of Regents, which will then make the final decision.

Sapiro said she is very excited about advancing in the competition.

"I was very pleased to hear I was a finalist," Sapiro said. "I'll just present my thoughts and credentials and let the board make their final decision."

Sapiro declined to comment about her specific plans should she be named chancellor at UW-L, however, she emphasized the importance of learning when taking a new administrative role.

"The core of it is to make sure that the campus can sustain the best undergraduate programs possible, and to support the faculty and their work," Sapiro said.

After being left off the final list of UW provost candidates last April, Sapiro was considered for provost positions at the University of Kansas and the University of Vermont, but was not appointed to either position.

One of the four finalists running alongside Sapiro for the position of UW-L chancellor is Royce Engstrom, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of South Dakota.

Engstrom said he is enthusiastic about the prospect of becoming chancellor for UW-L.

"I'm very excited to be named as a finalist for UW-La Crosse," he said. "I know it's a top-notch institution and overlaps with my interests and background."

The other three finalists include Joe Gow, interim president of Nebraska Wesleyan University; Patrick McGhee, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom; and Beverly J. Schmoll, dean of Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Wayne State University in Detroit.

A 17-member committee comprised of campus and community members and chaired by UW-L psychology professor Carmen Wilson recommended the five finalists to the Board of Regents' special committee, according to a UW System release.

Sapiro, who has spent 30 years at UW-Madison, is the only UW-Madison faculty member being considered. She chaired both the Political Science and Women's Studies Departments before becoming interim provost.

After not being named provost of either the University of Vermont or Kansas, Sapiro settled into her current position.

The regents' special committee will interview the five finalists individually, taking into account their previous experiences as well as their compatibility with UW-La Crosse's agenda for the future.