Second Provost candidate addresses IUP in open forum

With the hope of becoming Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Provost, Timothy Moerland addressed the IUP campus with two open forums Thursday.

The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Kent State University is one of the four individuals being considered for the Provost position.  Whoever is selected will aid President Michael Driscoll, in the daily operations of the campus.

“I like what I see here at IUP,” Moerland said.

Before he contemplated leaving Kent State and venturing to IUP, Moerland served as a chair for the department of biological science at Florida State University, was an interim director for the Geophysical  Fluid Dynamics Institute at Florida State University.

Prior, Moerland was an assistant dean, then an associate dean with the college of arts and sciences with Florida State.

Moerland is also currently a professor for the department of biological sciences at Kent State.

In 1978, he obtained his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, in Biological Science, with high honors.  Two years later, Moerland earned his master’s degree from the University of Maine, in zoology in 1984, Moerland left the University of Maine with his doctorate in zoology.

Moerland is ready to take his experience in school both as a student and an employee to IUP.  

“I very much believe in the power of working as a team,” Moerland said.

Moerland told the forum that he begins his day around 6:15 a.m., and from there, he is working with teams of people all day; he will spend most of his meals in meetings as well.

“You can still eat well, and I have,” Moerland said.

During these meetings, Moerland stressed that it is not always possible to please everyone; however, it is very important to be on the same page and work together to better the educational system.

“We need to make informed decisions on where we want to invest as an institution,” Moerland said.

Moerland brought up some of the areas he feels might be an topics in which differing opinions might be had.  He feels the enrollment rate and issue of online courses might be areas where faculty and staff differ.   

“I will always listen; the answer might not always be yes, and others might not be satisfied while others might be ecstatic,” Moerland said.

Moerland also told the audience that the Provost nominee will have to be ready to be the president, without being the president; he shared how one needs to accept the demanding hours and stresses of the job.  Moerland’s first concern is the students, and he wants to ensure that the job is done and done well.