Three faculty members have been appointed as deputies for their respective departments to help department heads or step in and operate a department if necessary. 

Laura Griner Hill, Matt Skinner and Ellen Taylor were appointed as deputies of WSU’s Office of the Provost, Finance and Administration, and the Division of Student Affairs, respectively. 

Deputies act as the second-in-command for a department if their department head is out of town or incapacitated, said Laura Griner Hill, senior vice provost for the Office of the Provost. 

“Somebody has to do it, and I was happy to,” she said. “I’m hoping nothing ever goes wrong with the provost, so I don’t anticipate that I’ll have to be in that position.”

Deputies also take up the department head’s responsibilities if asked to take care of an issue on their behalf, said Matt Skinner, associate vice president for Finance and Administration.

Skinner said he is happy to take on this role and looks forward to working with the department’s leadership team.

It is not a promotion to be appointed as a deputy. It is an increase in additional responsibilities, Griner Hill said.

The appointment of deputies prepares a second-in-command to step in and operate a department if necessary, Skinner said.

These three departments were chosen to have deputies because they are the most critical to the university’s operations, he said.

Deputies still hold their current positions and continue to focus on those responsibilities, he said.

Further discussion about how long a deputy will hold their positions and limitations on their authority will be discussed in the future, Skinner said. It is unknown if more university departments will receive deputies.