Sarah N. Denman

The Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs serves as the chief academic officer of the university and reports directly to the President. As the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Sarah N. Denman strives to instill throughout the university's faculty and administration a university perspective on academic work, including teaching, scholarship, and service. She seeks to coordinate the activities of all academic units toward university goals based on the institution's strategy of development, she works with the Faculty Senate to promote shared governance and address faculty concerns, and she provides assistance and support to academic leaders in the management of their units.

Reporting to the Provost and Senior Vice President are the deans of the undergraduate colleges, (except for the College of Health Professions which reports to the Vice President for Health Sciences), the Dean of Enrollment Management, the Dean of Student Affairs, the Executive Directors of the John R. Hall Center for Academic Excellence and International Programs, Center for Teaching Excellence, and the Dean of the College of Information Technology and Engineering, and the Vice Presidents for Graduate Studies, for Research, and for Information Technology/Chief Information Officer.

The Provost and Senior Vice President has general supervision of all instructional programs in the undergraduate colleges and graduate programs, has responsibility for academic planning in all of these units, and works in cooperation with the academic deans on matters of faculty appointments, faculty development promotions, salaries, curricula, instructional budgets, academic advising and testing, and other programs relating to instructional programs. The Provost and Senior Vice President has general supervisory authority over the Honors Programs, SCORES program and faculty/student research.

Dr. Sarah N. Denman, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, joined Marshall's Community and Technical College staff in 1975 as coordinator of communication and associate professor. She also served as associate dean of that college before becoming the university's assistant provost and then associate vice president for academic affairs. She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from Marshall University and her doctorate in higher education administration from West Virginia University.