Santa Fe College narrows provost search 

Santa Fe College sign
Photo by J.C. Derrick

Santa Fe College has narrowed its search for a new provost and vice president of academic affairs to finalists who visited campus in late April and early May, and a final decision could come in the next couple weeks.

Jay Anderson, assistant to the president, said Dr. Irene Rios withdrew her application for personal reasons in the past week, leaving Dr. Margo Martin and Dr. Jodi Long as options.

The three finalists visited and met with staff, faculty and students in a series of interviews. Anderson said President Paul Broadie II will sit down with the screening committee on Tuesday to review piles of notes from the visits and interviews.

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Dr. Paul Broadie, Santa Fe College President
Courtesy of Santa Fe College Dr. Paul Broadie

Anderson said the provost needs to understand the culture at Santa Fe College and also ask questions that keep the university moving forward.

“They are the chief academic officer, and in order to remain an elite institution, you need to make sure you have that person that can keep the programs we have at the level they are and then find out what’s next,” Anderson said.

The former provost, Dr. Edward Bonahue, left Santa Fe after the spring 2021 semester to be president at Suffolk County Community College, and Lisa Armour has filled the role as an interim since then.  

A 23-member search committee started in February and whittled 60 applicants down to seven semifinalists before arriving at the finalists.    

Of the candidates, Long is the only one currently serving at Santa Fe College, working up from an adjunct professor in 2004 to the associate vice president for academic affairs in health sciences since 2013. 

Martin currently works as the chief accreditation and institutional effectiveness officer at the College of Southern Nevada, where she’s worked for the last five years. She worked in Florida before transitioning to Nevada, serving as the dean of academic achievement at Florida State College in Jacksonville.  

“It’s a huge position,” Anderson said. “I’ll give the search committee a lot of credit, because the three finalists we picked are eminently qualified.” 

Santa Fe reported 12,366 students enrolled for the spring semester, which is up slightly from spring 2022 but down roughly 1,800 from 2020. Earlier this month the college earned a top 10 spot as a Military Friendly institution for the second year in a row.

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