UT interim president stuns faculty with sole provost finalist announcement

As a sweeping higher education reform bill awaits the governor's signature, University of Texas interim President Jim Davis named a sole finalist for provost of the institution in a move that surprised faculty members and signals a new balance of power in university hiring.

The sole finalist, William Inboden, is the current director of the Alexander Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida — a school created by the Florida state Legislature in a similar manner to UT’s own School for Civic Leadership, which received a $100 million boost from the UT System regents last month that was praised by Texas’ top leaders.

The provost, who is the second in command to the president, oversees curriculum, faculty and degrees — all areas that Conroe Republican Sen.