UVA pauses search for provost, which is what they should have done with the president

Get this: UVA President Scott Beardsley, himself the result of a rushed job search, has pushed pause on the search for a new EVP and provost, the chief academic officer job at the University, citing the dizzying number of changes to UVA’s executive leadership and to the composition of the search committee.

You gotta be freaking kidding me.

“This is a difficult decision, but I believe it will help us achieve a better outcome in the long term, ensure institutional stability, and continue building trust in our community,” Beardsley wrote in a letter to members of the provost search committee that UVA’s PR folks sent out to the media after hours on Wednesday.

The press release told us that Brie Gertler will continue to serve as interim provost, “as the University prepares to relaunch the search for a new chief academic officer early in the next academic year.”

This is rich.

Beardsley himself was the ultimate rush job, the result of a quick five-month search that was done that quick because the MAGAs who pushed Jim Ryan out the door in the summer wanted to get one of their guys in the president’s job before Abigail Spanberger got them out of the majority on the Board of Visitors.

Then, the new age radical centrist Spanberger had her new majority BOV go ahead and affirm the appointment of Beardsley, because that’s what we got for all of that hard work getting her elected – immediate compromise.

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ICYMI

• Spanberger’s UVA Board of Visitors confirms the Scott Beardsley mistake

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The move on the provost, it was noted in the press release from UVA, was made by Beardsley in conjunction with Board of Visitors Rector Carlos M. Brown, who was elected to the post on Feb. 20, alongside Vice Rector Victoria M. Harker.

Brown and Harker would be the head Spanberger Vichys on the BOV.

Love this quote attributed to Beardsley that the PR folks included in their propaganda.

“Our objective is to select an outstanding provost for the University,” Beardsley said. “We want to give both internal and external candidates an opportunity to enter a process that is fair, transparent and caring.”

They think nobody is paying attention.