Effective this year, Jason D. Hardgrave, associate professor and interim assistant provost since July 2023, has been named the new assistant provost for Academic Affairs.
“When Dr. Khayum retired President Roshan appointed Dr. Shelley Blunt as Interim Provost and she came to me and asked if I would step into this position as interim and we could kind of work together to keep the place going until they figured out who they wanted where.”
He said after Rochon’s resignation and Pamela Hopson’s appointment as interim vice president of Student Affairs, there are a bunch of interims on campus. He joked that because there are many interims, they thought about starting a support group.
“I’ve been here 20 years as faculty, teaching history and 10 as chair of history, but still teaching and now getting a chance to teach is going to be tough.”
He began his career in Evansville in 2004 by teaching a variety of history classes. He eventually earned tenure, was promoted to associate professor and eventually became the chair of his department.
However, Dr. Hardgrave wasn’t always set on History. Studying at the University of Wyoming, college, he originally pursued a degree in chemistry but later changed it to history with an emphasis on Europe.
“I pursued a degree in chemistry at the University of Wyoming, but could not manage high-level calculus and switched over to history,” he said. “After graduating I married and took a couple of years off to decide what I wanted to do with my degree.”
His bio continues, “Following museum, archive and library work I decided to get a graduate degree and teach.”
Because he has become assistant provost, he no longer holds chair of the history department or teaches any history courses. He does however help out from time to time, hoping to teach a UNIV or an Honor medieval class since they’re one credit classes.
He’s also still out on campus helping different clubs, initiatives and organizations such as the fencing club, Bee Campus USA and Themed Learning Communities.
“Even though I’m not teaching, I’m still connecting with students in all sorts of different ways, finding it, making sure I can do that right, and I just it’s fun,” he said. “If I’m having fun, it’s easy to be passionate about what you do, as long as it’s a good time.”
As assistant provost for Academic Affairs, he wishes to help by being reasonable and student facing. Giving students a hand with academics, grade appeals and issues with withdrawals from classes. Being able to create and execute plans with those who want to keep their higher education and move forward.
Hardgrave said, “Can we make a plan to make that work [dropping a class], to keep you in school and help you achieve success in graduation?” he said. “My goal is to support students and faculty in making this a great institution but also just making everybody successful.”
