YSU permanently fills academic affairs post

By Harold Gwin

The president said the man filling the post is the best person for the job.

YOUNGSTOWN — Dr. Ikram Khawaja is no longer the interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Youngstown State University. The university’s board of trustees has made the appointment permanent.

Scott Schulick, chairman of the board’s Finance and Facilities Committee, said that YSU President Dr. David C. Sweet had requested that the board waive the university’s position search policy — which would have required a nationwide search before filling the post — and make Khawaja the official provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Sweet said later that Khawaja is clearly qualified for the job and deserved the appointment. The provost is the chief academic officer on campus and answers only to the president.

He had served in the interim position since August 2007 following the death of Provost Dr. Robert K. Herbert, who drowned in July 2007 while vacationing in Costa Rica.

Khawaja was a retired YSU professor, chair and college dean at the time.

The university launched a nationwide search for a successor to Herbert and narrowed its list of 39 qualified candidates to three this spring.

The three made campus visits as part of the final selection process, but, in the end, Sweet declined to offer the post to any of them.

“While each of the finalists was an acceptable candidate for the position, none exceeded the capabilities of Dr. Ikram Khawaja,” Sweet said in a memo sent to the campus community in April.

Khawaja had agreed to stay on as interim provost and vice president of academic affairs for an additional two years, Sweet said at the time, adding that he had conferred with the search committee, the trustees and others before making the decision not to hire from outside the university.

He pointed out that Khawaja is very familiar with the major issues facing YSU — the state Strategic Plan for Higher Education, the development of a local community college and implementation of YSU’s own strategic academic plan — and has been working on them.

It’s in the best interest of the university and the academic division that he continue in his role, Sweet said.

There is no time frame linked to making the position permanent, Sweet said. However, he believes Khawaja will still stay for at least two years. He is being paid $155,000 annually.

No new search for the position is planned at this time, he said.

Khawaja joined the YSU faculty in 1968, served 17 years as chairman of the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, director of faculty relations from 1997 to 2000 and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2001-02 before retiring in 2002.

He came back as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from July 2005 to July 2007.

gwin@vindy.com