President Joseph Lee announced that Steven Almquist, PhD and Lisa Hagar, PhD have been appointed as the interim co-Provosts for the 2020-2021 academic year. Following Marc Manganaro, PhD, who served as the schools interim provost last year.
“Drs. Almquist and Hager have over 30 years combined experience here at Spring Hill, merging their strengths and their vast knowledge of our Jesuit, Catholic tradition of instruction,” said Lee. “Together, I know they will lead us into a successful academic year for our students and their instructors.”
Almquist serves as a professor of English, the Chair of the Division of Languages and Literatures and the faculty Athletics representative. He came to Spring Hill in 2008, directly out of his PhD program at the University of Iowa. Hager is a professor of Psychology and the Chair of the Social Sciences Division. She has been at Spring Hill College since 2001 and has served as the division chair for 12 years.
“I am particularly excited to work with our dedicated and resilient faculty, as they continue to serve our students and embody the Jesuit ideals that are at the core of SHC,” said Almquist of the new appointment. Hager also noted, “I hope that I can make an important contribution to the institution that has been my home away from home for the last 20 years.”
As the first semester of 2020 is coming to an end, Dr. Hagar stated a few initiatives that she would want to change for the Spring 2021 semester would be, “a few that I want to focus on includes: the development of new programs (this is a focus for both of us), initiatives to increase retention such as expanding career planning and internship opportunities, and supporting the development of a diversity and inclusion office.”
“The challenges have been many. Of course the pandemic is a main challenge. Also we started on September 1, 2020 and both of us were teaching two courses.” Drs. Almquist and Hager then stated, “Trying to shift roles and put on different hats (sometimes from one hour to the next) has been challenging. Our faculty colleagues have been amazingly supportive and Dr. Almquist and I have been working well together in sharing responsibilities.” Dr. Almquist also stated that, “Of course, being hit with two hurricanes has been challenging, because now we are part of the team that makes decisions about closing campus or shifting classes online. I feel like I have learned a lot thus far, but I have much more to learn.”