Vice provost candidates are selected

By Lori Wright, Media Relations

Five candidates for vice provost for academic affairs have been selected and will visit campus during the next several weeks.

The candidates are John T. Kirkpatrick, associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts, UNH; Stephen Alan Ray, associate dean for Academic Affairs, Harvard Law School; Howard Shapiro, vice provost for Undergraduate Programs, Iowa State University; Carol Blackshire-Belay, dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Wisconsin at Green Bay; and Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted, chair of the Department of History, University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse.

The vice provost for Academic Affairs assists, advises and represents the provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs in academic and administrative matters. He or she works closely with the deans, associate deans and members of the provost’s staff to advance the overall academic mission of UNH and the goals outlined in the Academic Plan.

Specifically, the vice provost oversees and coordinates work related to the development and review of undergraduate academic programs and courses; reviews and has approval authority for proposals for new academic or modified courses, based on recommendations from academic units; coordinates assessment activities to improve students learning; and oversees a variety of universitywide programs and offices.

The following open forums are planned for the UNH community. All forums will be held in the Wildcat Den in the MUB: Ted Kirkpatrick, Thursday, May 20, 10 a.m.; Stephen Alan Ray, Tuesday, May 25, 9 a.m.; Howard Shapiro, Thursday, May 27, 8 a.m.; Carol Blackshire-Belay, Wednesday, June 2,10 a.m.; and Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted, Friday, June 4, 8 a.m.

Kirkpatrick holds a Ph.D. and master’s in sociology from UNH, and a bachelor’s from Colby College. He is director of and research associate professor of sociology with Justiceworks at UNH.

Ray holds a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, a Ph.D. in religion from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, a master’s in theology from Harvard Divinity School, and a bachelor’s in philosophy from Saint Thomas Seminary College.

Shapiro holds a Ph.D. and master’s in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University, and a bachelor’s in mathematics from The Ohio State University.

Blackshire-Belay holds a Ph.D. and master’s in Germanic linguistics from Princeton University, a magister artium in Germanic linguistics and German didactic from the Ludwigs-Maximilians Universitat Munchen, and a bachelor’s from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Zeisler-Vralsted holds a Ph.D. from Washington State University (areas of specialization: American history, natural resources, western history and modern East Asia), a master’s from the University of Montana (areas of specialization: American/western history, modern Germany) and a bachelor’s from Carroll College (areas of specialization: history and political science).