Interim provost and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Jay Howard. Photo by Natalie Goo.
OLLIE FITZGERALD | STAFF REPORTER | ofitzgerald@butler.edu
After 15 years as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS), interim provost Jay Howard accepted President James Danko’s appointment on March 1, 2025. Howard’s appointment follows the announcement that Provost Brooke Barnett will leave Butler at the end of the academic year. Howard will only remain in the provost position for a year, until a new permanent provost is appointed.
The provost is a university’s chief academic officer. The position is part of the president’s cabinet and coordinates all of the university’s academics and academic support systems.
Howard is a sociologist by trade, earning his bachelor’s degree at Indiana University-South Bend and his master’s and PhD at the University of Notre Dame. Howard has written multiple books about the sociology of teaching and aims to teach at least one course a year at Butler.
Before following his daughter to Butler, Howard was an IUPUI faculty member. He was also the vice chancellor and dean at the IU Columbus campus.
“I was the person in charge of running the campus, both the academic side and worrying about things like paving parking lots,” Howard said. “I’ve had some significant administrative experience, although I still like to pretend I’m a faculty member.”
Provost Barnett will remain at Butler until the summer and is helping Howard transition into the position. Barnett said she will help ensure that the provost position will continue to work closely with all divisions across campus to progress the campus goals for the student experience.
“Dean Howard is a seasoned leader, and I look forward to a positive transition,” Barnett said in an email to the Butler Collegian. “We have several meetings on the books to make sure that things are smooth and [that] we keep up momentum and a positive trajectory.”
The provost and interim provost positions are directly appointed by President Danko. Before winter break, Danko gathered around 50 faculty members to discuss the changing of the provost position and to ask for suggestions on how the search should be conducted. Then, approximately three weeks ago, he sent out a survey to all faculty and staff members, asking further questions about the search and seeking recommendations on who could potentially fill the position.
“Jay’s name was the most cited, and I was pretty much leaning in that direction [already],” Danko said. “It [was] fairly obvious that there are not tons of people with [Howard’s] level of experience, so it almost was an easy choice, because he had broad support, because I believed in him and given his experience he was ready to step in.”
Butler has several ongoing initiatives and projects that Howard will help to oversee in his one-year term as interim provost. In the fall, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences will be launching a nursing program and the Founders College, a two-year degree program, will also be enrolling its first class of students. Butler is also looking into introducing its own engineering program within the next couple of years.
Howard is looking forward to the challenge that the position will bring him and to connecting more with Butler’s colleges.
“Among [the Dean’s cabinet], I’m the old guy who’s been around Butler the longest and seen most everything in 15 years,” Howard said. “I’m sure there’ll be some surprises, but it’ll be hard to [surprise me] after 15 years in [the dean] role. [Mainly], I’m looking forward to extending my connections and relationships with faculty, staff and students that are beyond the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.”
