First candidate for vice provost for student success on campus this week

LAWRENCE -- The first finalist for the position of vice provost of the Office for Student Success at the University of Kansas will be on campus Tuesday and Wednesday to interview and participate in two open forums.

Sybil R. Todd, vice president for student affairs at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, will be featured in an open student forum from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, in the Pine Room of the Kansas Union. An open faculty and staff forum will be from 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in the union's Woodruff Auditorium.

Todd is one of five candidates under consideration for vice provost for student success, a position that formerly was titled vice provost for student support. The new title becomes effective in July.

Prior to her appointment at the University of Alabama in 1998, Todd served as vice chancellor for the University of Houston system as well as vice president for institutional advancement on the University of Houston's main campus. From 1995 to 1997, Todd was the vice president for student affairs at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Between 1978 and 1995, Todd served as associate dean of students at the University of Virginia, where she supervised student affairs programs for more than 18,000 students.

She received her doctoral degree in education in 1972 from Arizona State University. She earned her master's degree from Arizona State as well and her undergraduate degree from West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, Texas.

Todd is a distinguished member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars at the University of Alabama and has been an honorary member of the Golden Key Honor Society, selected by students at the University of Utah and the University of Alabama.

The KU Office for Student Success will include both academic and student services as recommended by a reorganization task force and approved by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor David Shulenburger last August. The title reflects the office's commitment to providing services that promote student retention, academic success and graduation.

The Office for Student Success includes the KU Memorial Unions, Student Health Services, Student Housing, Student Financial Aid and the Department of Student Life. The student life department includes Recreation Services, Legal Services for Students, Hilltop Child Development program, Services for Students with Disabilities, University Career and Employment Services, Counseling and Psychological Services, Multicultural Affairs, the Student Development Center, Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, Student Organizations and Leadership Development Center, and the University Information Center. Academic Services includes Admissions and Scholarships, New Student Orientation, the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center, the University Registrar, the Writing Center and Academic Technology Services.