Provost Engstrom may replace Dennison

Provost Royce Engstrom might continue his UM career as its next president.

Board of Regents Chairman Clayton Christian announced Tuesday night that Engstrom is one of three finalists in the search to replace President George Dennison by Jan. 1.

He also is the only finalist who did not withdraw his application.

"I'm delighted to be a finalist at the University of Montana," Engstrom said. "I can't really say, but I'm sure that the quality of the other finalists was outstanding, which is in high demand among universities."

Confidentiality agreements prevent Christian from naming the two who withdrew from the search recently.

Shortly after semifinalist interviews two weeks ago, one candidate called to tell Christian and the committee he was taking a position offered by a different university. The other one did not provide a detailed reason.

"It is unique, but it's just a culmination of the process we started out to do with our national search and narrow the pool," Christian said. "From here, the selection process will continue as planned."

This month, Engstrom will visit all four branches of UM: the main campus and College of Technology in Missoula, the College of Technology in Helena, both Montana Tech's main and technology campuses in Butte and UM-Western in Dillon.

Christian said specific dates and times are forthcoming for the public question-and-answer periods with Engstrom, who worked in a provost-type position at the University of South Dakota before being hired at UM in 2007. Both written and electronic opportunities for the campuses to provide feedback to the search committee will be detailed at a later date.

The committee will forward those comments and a final recommendation to Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns, who will in turn pass on her evaluation of Engstrom's qualifications to the Board of Regents for a final decision.

The Regents, who govern all Montana higher education, meet Sept. 22-23 and Christian said they hope to announce a decision at that meeting, but may need to schedule an extra conference, depending on the search.

"At the latest, we would like to have the new president at work by Jan. 1," Christian said.

The January deadline not only accommodates the start of spring semester, but confirms the new president in time for the Montana legislative session advocating for the use of UM's state-appropriated education funds.

If Engstrom is not hired as UM's 17th president, Christian said the search committee would reconvene to discuss their options.

The search committee first met mid-February after Dennison announced his retirement Jan. 25. Christian said about 40 applications were received by the May 19 deadline. The 20-member committee, which includes two UM students, selected semi-finalists for the position in June and narrowed the field to six candidates after interviews two weeks ago.

Christian said Engstrom's enthusiasm was evident in those interviews.

"What we found at the offsite interviews is he certainly has his own ideas," Christian said.

Engstrom said he would wait to detail his vision for the university until the campus visits. His reason for applying, however, confirms Christian's observation.

"I think the University of Montana has the potential to be one of the best collection of institutions in the whole country," Engstrom said. "And when I say ‘institutions' I mean all four campuses."

The provost has learned firsthand to love UM and Missoula since being hired in 2007, Christian said.

And his familiarity with UM, the Regents and the state as a whole could be an advantage for Engstrom's candidacy.

"He certainly knows the system, and there certainly are some parts in that that would help create some continuity," Christian said.

Both Christian and Engstrom admit the role of president is different from that of provost, but the sole finalist said he's excited for the opportunity if he is chosen.

"I certainly think I would hit the ground running," Engstrom said.

jayme.fraser@umontana.edu