Patricia Wetzel appointed interim vice provost of OIA

Gil Latz, former vice provost of the Office of International Affairs, retired from his position of 10 years to pursue alternate employment. Professor Patricia Wetzel was appointed as interim vice provost on Dec. 20, 2011.

In the fall of 2010, Roy Koch, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, created the International Program Review Committee to oversee an internal review of international academic programs at Portland State, including the OIA. The review, conducted by an external panel, was completed in August 2011.

At the time the review was conducted, Latz had already announced his decision to leave the OIA. Reviewers were aware of his decision, and when the issue of finding a replacement was raised, Koch requested input from the external reviewers.

Koch stated that while the internal committee and the external review panel offered “no formal recommendation” on replacing Latz, the final decision was to search outside the university.

Latz was an established figure on the Portland State campus — he was a member of the faculty for 28 years. In addition to his role as vice provost of OIA, Latz was a professor of geography and had also performed several different roles related to international affairs.

According to the press release issued by the Office of University Communications, Latz accepted the positions of associate vice chancellor for international affairs at Purdue University and associate vice president for international affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Wetzel will serve in the interim until a permanent replacement is found. Wetzel has been at PSU since 1984, having received her doctorate from Cornell University. Her area of study is Japanese linguistics.

Wetzel was an ideal candidate because of her familiarity with faculty who deal with international issues on campus, according to Koch.

“Pat has been associated with international programs at PSU for her entire career,” wrote Koch in an email. “She is a professor of Japanese in the Department of World Languages and Literature, she has directed our Institute for Asian Studies, has been involved in many of our international initiatives and has a good understanding of the many functions that the Office of International Affairs serves for students and faculty. She is a well-respected faculty member who is also an experienced administrator.”

As interim vice provost, Wetzel will provide leadership for the OIA and make sure all of its activities continue in the absence of a permanent vice provost. She will also provide support for international students, PSU students abroad and faculty exchange programs.

“An interim position always serves as a kind of care-taker,” said Wetzel. “My goal is to leave the OIA in good shape for the permanent replacement.”

Wetzel aims to maintain momentum on current projects in the OIA as well as to put together written documents detailing the OIA’s various activities. These documents will give the new vice provost a sense of the scope of OIA’s involvement and collaboration with various countries and regions across the world.

Wetzel plans to return to the Department of World Languages and Literature once her replacement is found.

In addition, Koch has appointed a committee tasked with finding a permanent replacement for Latz. The search committee is chaired by Scott Dawson, dean of the school of business administration, and it includes 10 individuals from PSU and two from the general Portland community.

According to Koch, the committee is looking for a candidate “with extensive international experience who understands the many roles of the Office of International Affairs, is a good administrator and can interact well with faculty, students and administrators across the university.”

The search committee is currently developing a detailed description of the vice provost position, which should be concluded in approximately one week.

According to Dawson, once this description is finished, advertisements will be put in publications like The Chronicle of Higher Education and submitted electronically to other “relevant associations.”

“Members of the committee will also do targeted outreach to desirable candidates or individuals who may be able to recommend desirable candidates,” said Dawson. “The search committee will conduct phone and teleconference interviews with high potential candidates and eventually schedule three to four finalists for a campus interview. Feedback from the campus community will be collected and the search committee will summarize the strengths and weaknesses of each finalist.”

The committee plans to find a replacement before the end of spring quarter.