Dear Bellarmine faculty and staff,
It is my great pleasure to announce that I have appointed Dr. Mark Wiegand as Bellarmine’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, effective immediately.
Over the past few years, I have been impressed with Dr. Wiegand’s support for our deans and faculty, first as Associate Provost and then as Interim Provost. When I appointed Dr. Wiegand to this position on an interim basis last June, it was with the expectation that he would transition smoothly into this new role and work to facilitate open communication. This began immediately in the form of listening sessions with his faculty colleagues in the various schools and colleges, as well as outreach to the staff in Academic Affairs, students, staff members at large, trustees, and other cabinet members.
While his work these past eight months as we began to recover from a tumultuous period is impossible to adequately capture here, I want to note his oversight of the writing and submission of our Five-Year SACS Accreditation Report; his oversight and collaboration with faculty in developing our Affirmation of Tenure Document; and the appointment of new leadership in Institutional Research and Effectiveness on the heels of an unexpected staff departure.
As impressive as these accomplishments are, his greatest achievement over the past year has been his collaborative and respectful approach to the enormous and complex work of the Provost’s office. That has been a natural extension of his style for more than five years as Associate Provost, which included leading the College of Health Professions while it served as an incubator for the launch of new programs and initiatives, including interdisciplinary endeavors that blend the health sciences and the humanities.
I am convinced of Dr. Wiegand’s commitment to our mission as a Catholic university based in the liberal arts that provides a diverse, inclusive and equitable education for all students. I am confident that a search process would deliver no candidate who would be a better fit than we will find by removing the interim tag from Dr. Wiegand’s title.
Dr. Wiegand started the Physical Therapy Program at Bellarmine in 2001 and served as Faculty Council president from 2011-12 before moving into academic administration as Dean of the Lansing School of Nursing and Health Sciences. He has served as Associate Provost and Deputy Title IX Coordinator for six years while overseeing the College of Health Professions alongside many other administrative responsibilities.
Please join me in congratulating and expressing gratitude to Dr. Wiegand as he continues in this role of great leadership and service to Bellarmine, its faculty and its students.
Sincerely,
Susan M. Donovan, Ph.D.
President