Dr. Gerald McDougall, dean of the College of Business and associate provost of extended and online learning, has been appointed interim provost of Southeast Missouri State University.

"I was surprised, and I'm pleased that the president and others have a confidence in me that I'll be able to carry on those functions and rules over the coming academic year," McDougall said. "I was very pleased that they thought I could do it."

As dean, McDougall is responsible for more than 40 faculty members. He also is responsible for students who are pursuing bachelor of science degrees in business administration or organizational management and is in charge of two graduate programs, the Master of Business Administration and the Master of Science in organizational management.

"I have direct concern over 1,300 undergraduate students and 140 graduate students, and now that has just been magnified up to a larger set of responsibilities for all of the academic programs, the entire student body and the entire faculty base," McDougall said. "I have to ensure that we're doing the things that we want to do and that we're making progress on our institutional goals for academic affairs as well as the academic goals for the various units, whether that be department units or college units."

As dean and associate provost, McDougall has helped establish the Douglas E. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Business and Economic Research and more.

McDougall has been employed by Southeast since 1993. He said he will begin his duties sometime around mid-June and remain until a provost is hired.

"As short a time as necessary," McDougall said about how long he will serve as interim provost. "In talking with the president, I understand that searches take time and they deserve time and close attention, so mentally I'm preparing myself to begin the middle of this coming summer and coming back to the Harrison College of Business after the end of next spring, so after the spring 2014 term. And whether that's going to be at the beginning of the summer term or towards the middle of that summer or the end of that summer, that will be determined by the search process and the candidates' responsibilities in their current positions."

The provost is the chief academic officer of the university. As interim provost, McDougall would not be a candidate for the provost position, according to a university press release.

"We are grateful to Dr. McDougall for his willingness to accept an interim assignment and to continue to lead the academic areas of the university as we transition into many new initiatives for the Year 2020 and beyond," Southeast president Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins said in a university press release. "He brings to this new assignment a wealth of institutional knowledge and experience. We also are indebted to Dr. McAllister for his acceptance of an interim assignment. He has been a great asset to our Department of Accounting, and I know how committed he is to continuing the tradition of AACSB accreditation and quality College of Business academic programs."

Dr. Charles McAllister, who has been working as the interim chair of the Department of Accounting, will serve as interim dean of the College of Business.

"I'm comfortable in believing that I'll be able to bring 20 years of experience at Southeast to whatever I am asked to do," McDougall said.

McDougall will replace Dr. Ronald Rosati, who had been serving as provost since February 2010, until a new provost is hired. Rosati announced his acceptance of a position as dean of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis, Neb., in February.

Southeast's faculty handbook says that people interested in the provost position should have earned a doctorate, have experience teaching at the college level and have experience in an administrative setting. A search committee is made up of one faculty member selected from each of Southeast's colleges and schools, a student member selected by Student Government Association and two members of the committee selected by the university president. The committee selects the chairperson from the group.

After the committee is formed and applications are reviewed, the committee selects candidates and invites each of them to campus for two days to be interviewed and to view the university. The committee then selects three finalists after all the campus interviews are done and recommends them to the university president. The president selects the person and a request is sent to the Southeast Board of Regents to approve the nomination.