UI alumna returns to interview for provost
While most candidates for top level administrative positions book a flight to get to campus, Candis Claiborn is only a short drive away.
Living just outside Moscow, Claiborn, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture at Washington State University, is a University of Idaho alumna and the fourth finalist in the search for UI’s new provost and executive vice president.
Candis Claiborn
“She loves Idaho and she’d like to do this,” said Kelvin Lynn, director of the Center for Materials Research at WSU who has known Claiborn for 10 years.
Claiborn will speak at an open forum at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the International Ballroom in the Bruce Pitman Center, formerly the Student Union Building. She will also meet with the search committee and a number of stakeholders on campus. She is one of five candidates vying for the position.
At WSU, she has also served as associate dean for Research and Graduate Programs at the College of Engineering and Architecture.
Claiborn graduated UI in 1980 with a degree in chemical engineering before earning her doctorate in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1991.
The same year, she began her academic career at WSU as an assistant professor. In her tenure, Claiborn received funding from the National Science Foundation, the University of Washington and the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Before her career at WSU, Claiborn worked in the private sector as a senior process control engineer for Chevron.
Lynn said Claiborn has faced many challenges over the years as dean, but grew into the position as an administrator.
When the college faced a budget shortfall a few years ago, Lynn said Claiborn put together a strategic plan that would result in heavy cuts to programs and departments. Instead of going forward with the cuts, however, Claiborn reached out to the Washington Legislature and showed them there was a demand for more engineers in the state with large companies like Boeing and Microsoft in the region, Lynn said.
“She then got the state legislators to support a real initiative to increase the budget for engineering in the state,” he said.
With state support, the college survived budget shortfalls and Claiborn did not have to follow through with the cuts.
“The morale right now in the College of Engineering, I would say, is the best I’ve seen in a long time,” Lynn said.
Claiborn is a straightforward administrator who cares about the faculty members, Lynn said, making a point to give input on faculty searches and give faculty fair wage increases.
“She’s tough, but she’s always friendly,” he said.
Lynn said Claiborn has also played a large role in expanding engineering programs to satellite campuses within the state.
Despite her position over the border, Lynn said Claiborn is proud of her Vandal roots and has fond memories of her time at UI.
“She really liked it, and she had a good experience there,” he said.
He said Claiborn had offers from other universities over the years, but thinks her life is centered on serving the Palouse.
“She’s committed to staying … That’s the only place, in my opinion, she would go right now,” Lynn said.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]