In July 2023, Dr. Dianna Shandy will officially be the new provost on Augustana’s campus. She specialized in anthropology and worked as a former associate provost at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.

Dr. Wendy Hilton-Morrow is the current provost and dean of the college. Hilton-Morrow is planning to return to teaching communication studies, multimedia journalism and mass communications on campus. 

The provost’s job is to manage the hiring faculty and staff as well as budgeting. The position is meant to oversee the academic operations of the college, which includes the academic departments, the library, Career Opportunities Research Exploration (CORE), the museum collections and The Swenson Center for Swedish Immigration Research. 

“If the job is done well, much of the work is invisible to students,” Hilton-Morrow said. “It is more about supporting people who are on the front line with the students.”

First-year Sydney Shields shared her prior knowledge of what a provost is and what the position means on a college campus. 

“Honestly, I did not know what the provost does and what their role is,” Shields said. “After it was explained to me, I definitely think it is necessary due to the fact that I feel as if this should be a role that students should acknowledge more. I do think that many students know as much about a provost as I did.”

As Shields said, students may not be aware that the role of the provost affects their academic livelihood and their campus life. 

The Augustana website shared Shandy’s education experience. At Columbia University in New York, Shandy pursued her doctorate and master’s degree in anthropology, focusing on African refugee migration. Additionally, she studied the transformation of the Namibian education system after apartheid at Columbia University for her master’s degree in education. 

“She completed her undergraduate degree at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. in languages, with certificates in African studies and Russian area studies,” Augustana’s website said.

On Augustana’s website, Andrea Talentino, the president of Augustana College, shares her excitement for Shandy to take over.

“She really had all the qualities we were looking for — broad experience across a number of roles, creativity and innovation in developing new ideas and programs, exposure to different institutions, and perhaps most importantly deep empathy and commitment to serving faculty, staff and students at the highest level,” Talentino said. 

In a video shared by Augustana College to introduce the new provost to the campus community, Shandy said she is “thrilled to come to Augustana this summer.”

“I felt very connected to Augustana through the search process, through the people,” Shandy said.

In the video, Shandy explains what she would bring to the table for this campus. 

“If I could bring something to Augustana, it would put my system thinking and system planning into the mix because if I can do what I hope to do, I will be able to give people back some time,” Shandy said.