The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to appoint NMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Kerri Schuiling, Ph.D., to serve as interim university president until we select a successor to Dr. Fritz Erickson. Dr. Schuiling has accepted the appointment and will immediately step into the interim leadership position, with her contract to be negotiated with Vice Chair Steve Young and me and brought back to the board for approval.
Dr. Schuiling began her appointment as NMU provost and vice president in 2014 and recently served as dean of NMU's College of Health Sciences and Professional Studies. She has held positions as the dean of Oakland University's School of Nursing and associate dean and director of NMU's School of Nursing. She most recently served the university as co-chair of the NMU Press task force and is currently the co-chair of the Sexual Assault Policy task force.
Dr. Schuiling holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, master's degree from Wayne State University and baccalaureate degree from NMU. She is certified as both a women's health nurse practitioner and nurse-midwife.
We are confident that Dr. Schuiling will demonstrate the high level of professionalism, vision and sound leadership required to keep the university moving forward through this important transition process.
The board will now turn our attention to the executive search process. This is an exciting time for the university as we prepare for a new leader. We are committed to an open recruitment process that leads to appointment of a highly qualified individual who can lead NMU in the years ahead.
As we carry out this search, we will take steps to ensure that we identify and recruit a visionary leader who is well aligned with the university's needs. While the board has sole responsibility of hiring the president, we look forward to engaging students, faculty and community stakeholders to help us identify the critical needs this university must address going forward.
At today's board meeting, trustees approved issuance of an RFP for an executive search firm to assist us in this process. Additional information on the selection of a search firm and other steps in the search process will be released in the coming weeks.