MSU narrows provost search to 5 finalists

The search for Missouri State University's next provost has led to five finalists.

The finalists, unveiled in a news release this morning following a closed MSU board meeting, are Mitchell McKinney, Clarenda Phillips, James Satterfield, Mark Smith and Shawn Wahl. Two are internal candidates and all are higher education veterans.

“The search committee chose these five outstanding individuals from a pool of well-qualified candidates,” MSU President Richard “Biff” Williams said in the release. "Each one brings a wealth of experience and a strong commitment to academic excellence."

The two internal candidates are Smith, dean of the MSU McQueary College of Health and Human Services since 2019, and Wahl, founding dean of the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at MSU. Each has around two decades of experience in academia, with Smith joining MSU in 2019 and Wahl serving at the university since 2012.

With more than three decades of higher education experience, McKinney has served as dean of the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Akron in Ohio since 2021, according to the release.

Phillips, who is currently the system lead for reimagining STEM equity at Texas A&M University, has over 30 years of higher education experience.

With more than two decades of higher education experience, Satterfield has served as dean of the College of Education at Boise State University in Idaho since 2022, according to the release.

The finalists were selected from a pool of more than 80 applicants, MSU officials say. The 17-member MSU provost search committee is led by Brad Bodenhausen, vice president for community and global partnerships, and Marjorie Shavers, College of Education associate dean, with other MSU staffers making up the remainder of its ranks.

The selected finalist would succeed John Jasinski, MSU's provost since 2022. Jasinski previously signaled his intention to exit MSU earlier than previously planned, with his last day in office held Dec. 20 and his official last day on Feb. 1, according to past reporting. The university last month announced Tamera Jahnke, dean of the MSU College of Natural and Applied Sciences, was named interim provost.

The search process, which has a dedicated web page on MSU's website, calls for the new provost to assume the role on or before July 1. A new provost is expected to be chosen in March.

Public forums with the finalists are scheduled for next month at MSU.