Otterbein’s incoming provost plans to take his time to get to know the students and community before taking on the issues that Otterbein faces.
Miguel Martinez-Saenz will enter Otterbein as the new provost and vice president for Academic Affairs on June 1. Martinez-Saenz has been the Dean of University College and Associate Provost for Student Success at St. Cloud University, a public university in Minnesota with about 16,000 students. Prior to St. Cloud he was the associate provost at Wittenberg University, a private school in Ohio.
“If people are saying things like ‘he’s doing the hard work of building relationships and getting across campus and understanding students before he makes decisions,’ I will be very happy,” Martinez-Saenz said.
A provost can be thought of as the chief academic officer of the university. Martinez-Saenz will be involved in the accreditation process and approving faculty candidates for tenure. The department heads and faculty report to the provost. Former Otterbein provosts have been involved in the semester conversion and the name change from “college” to “university.” Martinez-Saenz is Otterbein’s third full-time provost since 2006.
President Kathy Krendl said Martinez-Saenz’s focus was on student success and would give “students the support they need to be successful.”
Outside the University, Martinez-Saenz and his wife, a former 8th grade public school teacher, and their two children are looking for a house in the Westerville area.
“I do not see this as a short term stop. I see it as long-term for me and my family,” he said.
Martinez-Saenz and his wife spend their free time tutoring teens below the poverty-line. He has also escorted groups of students to build and repair houses in Nicaragua with a group called Bridges to Community.
After her experience as interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, Alison Prindle believes that being a provost requires Martinez-Saenz to be “calm, steady of purpose, committed, good at working in a collaborative environment, which is what Otterbein is.”
“I think he really understands the Otterbein values and he understands the importance of a good liberal arts and sciences education,” said Prindle. “He is going to be coming in a difficult environment for higher education, as anyone who watches or reads the news would know.”
Recent reports show that Ohio has the fewest graduating high school students this year than in the last 10 years.
Martinez-Saenz said that “a place like Otterbein is essential in a lot of ways to the community … but we are in a difficult situation in higher education right now. What I want to see happen through my tenure is to see us flourish, to continue to flourish but it’s going to be challenging right now.”
At the University Summit meeting on March 11, Vice President of Enrollment Jefferson Blackburn-Smith said that over half of Ohio private schools are experiencing drops in applications. Otterbein is one of them with a nearly 20 percent decrease in applications for the 2014-15 academic year.
Martinez-Saenz said he plans on addressing these issues by getting to know the university, the layout, the staff and the students. He plans to manage staffing issues and to “reevaluate some programs to make sure students are being served the way they deserve.”
