Updated 11:40 a.m. Jan. 18
Two finalists for vice provost for research and graduate studies were on campus this week for open forums.
Texas A&M University-San Antonio is close to hiring a candidate for the position. Brent Snow, Ph.D., who served as A&M-San Antonio’s director of graduate studies and office of research is retiring.
The job posting for VP for research and graduate studies advertises the position as offering the opportunity to “guide, facilitate and administer major growth in research and scholarly activities among all of the university community.”
Position responsibilities include overseeing the development of grant proposals and the negotiation of federal and state grants and contacts. The administrator will also oversee the approval of awarding all graduate degrees and will participate in planning and budgeting processes within the Office of the Provost.
Two final candidates are vying for the position: Gautam Pillay, Ph.D. and Laura V. Scaramella, Ph.D..
Pillay currently serves as vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate School of Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. He has a doctorate in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University at College Station.
Scaramella serves as the current chair and graduate coordinator of the psychology department at the University of New Orleans. Her “research focuses on social, genetic, and biological mechanisms affecting the parenting quality and the emergence of behavior problems during early childhood,” according to her faculty profile in research interests on the UNO website.
Scaramella has a doctorate degree from the University of Arizona in family and human development. She has more than 50 publications, has collaborated and independently worked on numerous research studies and has 3700 citations in Google Scholar.
Juliana Velez, proposal administrator I employed in the Office of the Provost, explained the job position was previously named director of graduate studies and office of research, but was changed to vice provost for research and graduate studies.
“It’s a new title with the same job,” Velez said.
Academic Career & Executive Search assisted A&M-San Antonio in finding competitive final candidates.
Velez will collect feedback from A&M-San Antonio faculty and staff on the finalists with a deadline of 5 p.m. Jan. 17. Email feedback to juliana.velez@tamusa.edu.
