Final provost candidate shares vision for university

A candidate for provost said the university's reputation and its vision to create opportunities for student success are partly what attracted him to the position.

Ian R. Davison gave a public presentation on February 6 in the Kirkhof Center on the Allendale Campus. Davison, dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Central Michigan University, will also be available on Tuesday, February 7, from 10:30-11:30 a.m. for an open meeting at the DeVos Center, Regency Room, on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

"It's the clarity of Grand Valley's vision that makes this position appealing to me," Davison said.

Like other candidates, he was asked to project what Grand Valley would look like in five years under his leadership as provost.

He said Grand Valley would continue to be a leading regional university because it has remained central to the mission of student success despite external challenges like decreases in state appropriations and the available pool of high school graduates. He added that future recruitment of students should tout the experiences Grand Valley offers to students.

"Focus on what the university has to offer students: jobs and the experiences a student gets here. This is an environment in which they genuinely feel connected to faculty who care about their successes," he said.

Davison earned a doctorate in biological studies from the University of Dundee in Scotland and a bachelor's degree in biological studies from the University of London.

Denise Cobb, Stephen L. Esquith and James E. Hinterlong have also interviewed for the position and are being considered.