National searches are underway to replace Western Kentucky University’s outgoing provost and dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.

Both vacancies have been advertised online since Dec. 21 and call for interested applicants to apply by Feb. 16, according to postings on chroniclevitae.com.

Search committees are working with search firm Greenwood/Asher and Associates to find replacements for Provost David Lee and Sam Evans, the dean of WKU’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. Both administrators plan to retire effective June 30.

Greenwood/Asher and Associates will receive $170,000 for its work.

WKU President Timothy Caboni said the new campus leaders will have vital roles.

“As we finalize WKU’s strategic plan next summer, we will shift to aggressive implementation of the roadmap we have assembled. The new provost will lead these implementation efforts for our academic units. The effectiveness of how the provost’s office executes our recruitment, retention and graduation strategies will tie directly to our future funding levels in Kentucky’s performance funding system.

“The new College of Education and Behavioral Sciences dean also will play an instrumental role in the process, ensuring the college’s strategies dovetail with the overarching university plan.

“WKU is a very attractive place in the higher education landscape, even with our near-term challenges. I am confident we will identify two individuals who embrace the innovation and change we are creating as we continue to elevate WKU in the commonwealth and nationally.”

Lee, who has served as WKU’s provost since August 2015, said search firms are adept at networking and reaching out to candidates with leadership experience who might not be aware of the job opening.

“They’re constantly in touch with folks who want to be provosts or who have some interest in the job,” he said.

Additionally, Lee said WKU has only conducted one provost search in the past 20 years.

“We just have not been active in the provost market in a very long time,” Lee said.

WKU’s provost also serves as vice president for academic affairs and as the university’s chief academic officer.

A search is also underway to replace Evans, who has served as dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences since 2003, according to his resume.

Jeffrey Katz, dean of the Gordon Ford College of Business, is one of three co-chairs leading the search committee.

After applications are received, Katz said the search firm will identify candidates who have met qualifications and forward them to the committee, which can begin evaluating and contacting candidates.

“We want to have a face-to-face meeting with some semifinal group,” Katz said, estimating the committee will review 10 to 12 candidates at that point, depending on applications.

Ultimately, Katz said the search committee’s task is to whittle down the list to a group of finalists for recommendations to the provost, who will make the final call.

Both online job postings note that applications will be considered secretly, but “the name and curriculum vitae of finalists will be released prior to on-campus meetings with key constituency groups as part of the final interview process.”

Regardless of who becomes WKU’s next provost, Lee said they’ll have to help the university navigate significant financial challenges and other hurdles.

Lee said the nature of comprehensive universities is changing within the higher education landscape, with an increasingly important focus on economic and workforce development.

“I think WKU is well positioned to be a model for the new kind of comprehensive university that I think we’re going to see emerge over the next decade,” he said.