By Matthew Stone

Macalester will search nationally for a new provost, President Brian Rosenberg announced last week, but the pool of candidates could also include a few Macalester professors if they choose to apply.A national search will begin “in earnest” in January with the intention of hiring a replacement for outgoing Provost Diane Michelfelder by the end of the academic year, Rosenberg wrote in a letter sent to faculty members late last week.

“I believe that our goal in searching for any administrative or academic position should be to find the best possible person for the job; whether that person comes from inside or outside our community is something that the process will in the end determine,” Rosenberg wrote.

Rosenberg will chair the search committee with Biology professor Jan Serie, who is also the director of the Center for
Scholarship and Teaching. Rosenberg has asked professors to nominate colleagues to serve on the search committee, which will include five or six professors and one or two administrative staff members, according to Rosenberg’s letter.

Michelfelder announced in November that she would step down as Provost at the end of the academic year.