About the Office

What is a Provost?

Beginning in 1962 with IU's first Chancellor, the legendary Dr. Herman B Wells, Indiana University was led by both a Chancellor and a President. That changed in the spring of 2006 when the Board of Trustees announced major changes intended to enhance the university's management structure, particularly at IU Bloomington, the flagship campus of IU's eight-campus system. At that time, the trustees created the new position of Bloomington Provost.

The Provost and Executive Vice President is the chief academic officer for the Bloomington campus. The Provost oversees academic and budgetary policy and priorities and ensures the quality of the faculty and student body by providing leadership in matters related to academic programs and policies, promotion and tenure, faculty recognition, research, university outreach, and student recruitment and retention. All of the deans and leaders of administrative units report to the Provost.

The Board of Trustees charged the Provost with a variety of specific duties, including:

• Energizing and securing funding for the sciences and research in all fields
• Recruiting and retaining a top-quality faculty
• Leading the university's globalization efforts
• Overseeing the improvement of the student body to elevate the intellectual tone of the IU Bloomington campus
• Managing academic appointments, searches, tenure, and promotion
• Safeguarding and improving diversity, humanity, and accessibility during the process of change