Provost finalists to Visit Campus March 12-16

PUEBLO – Three individuals have been selected as finalists for the top academic position at Colorado State University-Pueblo and will interview on campus in the coming weeks. Bruce Raymond, dean of the Hasan School of Business, has been serving as interim provost since January, 2018.  

The following three candidates will interview at a variety of campus forums over the next few weeks for the position of Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs:

Dr. Mohamed Abdelrahman, vice president for academic affairs, Arkansas Tech University, (March 12-13); Dr. Cristian E. Botez, professor and department chair, Department of Physics, The University of Texas at El Paso (March 15-16), and Dr. Diana Rogers-Adkinson, dean of the College of Education at Southeast Missouri State University (March 13-14).

The Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs is the institution's chief academic officer who provides leadership in all academic matters. The Provost will work collaboratively with deans, faculty, and staff to provide transparent management of academic affairs and advocate in support of deans, faculty, and staff to provide a quality academic experience for CSU-Pueblo's students.

Interview schedules and copies of the candidates’ vitae are available for viewing at www.csupueblo.edu/provost-candidates. Each candidate will give an afternoon presentation on enrollment and retention initiatives and future expectations for success. A campus community open forum also will occur at 9:45 a.m. in Life Science 105 (OSC008 for Abdelrahman) during their final morning on campus.

Abdelrahman earned a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering and a master’s degree in engineering physics from Cairo University (Egypt) as well as a master’s degree in measurements and controls engineering and a doctoral degree in nuclear science and engineering from Idaho State University. He has served as vice president for academic affairs at Arkansas Tech University since 2016. While there, he operationalized an Office of Student Success and introduced initiatives aimed at supporting student success. From 2011-2016, he was associate vice president for research and graduate studies at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, where he implemented a strategic plan for increasing graduate enrollment and improving graduate education.  A Fulbright Scholar, he also has served as visiting scientist at Image Science Group in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and as an electrical and computer engineering professor at Tennessee Tech University. 

Botez earned bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the University of Bucharest, Romania, and master’s and doctoral degrees in physics from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He was a postdoctoral fellow in materials physics at the Brookhaven National Laboratory from 2002-2005. He has moved through the ranks and now is a professor and chair of the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at El Paso.  In 2013-14, he served as associate dean for research in the College of Science, where he implemented new student recruitment and retention strategies, and restructured Graduate Program administration and admission processes He has earned significant external research dollars as well as awards for teaching and mentoring of students.

Rogers-Adkinson earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from Ball State University and master’s (community counseling) and doctoral degrees (counseling and human development services/special education) from Kent State University. She has served as dean of the College of Education at Southeast Missouri State University since 2012. She also has taught as an adjunct professor of educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Missouri-Columbia since 2013. From 2004-12, she moved through the ranks and obtained tenure as a special education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. While there, she became the first director of University Learning Communities, where she served from 2007-2011, and was chair of the Department of Special Education from 2006-2012. Prior to that, she taught for four years as an assistant professor in curriculum and instruction at Wichita State University

The candidates all will follow a similar schedule with these campus individuals and groups:

FIRST DAY

Breakfast with Cabinet members       

Search and Screen Committee           

Tour of Campus

Lunch with Campus Deans                

University Presentation

Meeting with Department Chairs

Human Resources

Dinner with Faculty Senate Executive Committee

SECOND DAY                                

Breakfast with President

Meeting with Direct Reports

Open Forum for Campus Community (Life Science 105)

Lunch with President Mottet

Tour of Pueblo