Three finalist candidates have been named for the Provost position at USC. The candidates are Donna Arnett, Valerie Kinloch and Sacha Kopp, according to a statement released on the university's website.
The position has been filled by interim Provost Stephen Cutler, dean of USC’s College of Pharmacy, since June 2021. The finalists were announced on Monday, March 21.
The candidates will visit campus through the week of March 20 to March 25, the statement said. The visits will last two days for each candidate.
There will be campus forums for each of these candidates during their visits both online and in the Hollings Library. Access links to the virtual forums are available on the university's website.
"All faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to attend and provide feedback to the search committee," the statement said.
All forums will be held between 1:45 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. Arnett's forum was held on Monday, March 21. Kinloch’s will be held on Wednesday, March 23 and Kopp’s on Thursday, March 24.
Donna Arnett is the dean of the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health, according to the profile included with the announcement. She has been at Kentucky since 2016, where she served as chief executive and academic for the college and reported directly to the provost. She received her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina.
Valerie Kinloch is the dean of the College of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. There, she manages financial, academic, faculty affairs and external relations, according to USC's announcement. She received her Ph.D. in English and composition studies from Wayne State University in Detriot, Michigan.
Sacha Kopp is the senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is responsible for the campus academic sector which consists of six colleges, eight deans, with a large staff and student body, according to the statement. He received his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Chicago.
- Caleb Bozard contributed to the reporting in this article.