Throop Steps Down as Provost

President Ron Nowaczyk informed the faculty and staff of Frostburg State of Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Elizabeth Throop’s decision to step down on May 15.

Throop joined the Bobcat community on July 1 of 2017. She came to FSU after serving as the dean of the UW-Platteville College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Her background is in cultural anthropology and social work.

In her role as Provost, Throop oversaw the three academic colleges, academic support programs, and the Lewis J. Ort Library. During her three years at FSU, Throop spearheaded the search, selection and hiring of the three deans and tenure-track faculty members. The 2019 Faculty Morale Survey reflected poorly on Provost Throop as the majority of faculty participants in the survey strongly disagreed with the statement “I am satisfied with the leadership of the Provost.”

TBL previously reported Throop interviewed for the permanent Provost position at SUNY-Plattsburgh. She was one of three finalists for the positions. Plattsburgh announced Dr. Anne Herzog was selected for the permanent position.

In reaching out to Throop for comment on her next steps, TBL’s inquiry was met with an automatic

reply: “I am no longer the Provost of Frostburg State University. Please direct all questions to Dr. Mike Mathias, interim Associate Provost, at mbmathias@frostburg.edu.” Throop’s next steps remain unknown.

TBL reached out to Dr. Mathias for comment who referred TBL to News and Media Services who shared a message from President Nowaczyk: “I hope to announce an interim provost within the next two weeks.  We’ll rely on the faculty leadership,  academic staff, and deans to continue developing our plans for the summer and fall. We’ll do a national search beginning in the fall.”

Throop is still listed as Provost on FSU’s website as of May 16^th.  On May 19th, FSU’s website no longer showed Throop as a member of the university’s administration.

The student body received an email from President Nowaczyk on May 18th announcing Dr. Mike Mathias accepted the position of Interim Provost. A tenured professor in the Philosophy department, Dr. Mathias has been serving in the role of Interim Associate Provost.  The email does not mention Throop’s decision to step down or Throop in general.

The story has been updated to note the FSU student body received notice of Dr. Mike Mathias resuming the role of Interim Provost.