Purdue Northwest provost resigns

Purdue Northwest Provost Ralph Mueller recently resigned, officials said.

Chancellor Thomas Keon said he will take over Mueller’s duties while Purdue searches for an interim replacement by July 1, according to a May 20 internal email. Spokesman Doug Clark confirmed Mueller’s departure via email.

By Thursday, Mueller’s personnel page appeared to have been removed from the university website. As Provost, he was chief academic officer, in charge of majors and their budgets.

Mueller was a public face of its “Imagine PNW” initiative, which looked for cost cuts as the university faces declining enrollment.

A report released in Aprillast month — targeting such majors as like English literature — provoked a backlash. from students and staff. Keon later told faculty they would back off recommendations. Those reports ranked majors and programs like the Sinai Forum on a scale from Quintile 1 to 5 based on cost and demand. Keon later attempted to soothe faculty concerns.

“(P)lease be open to acknowledging the many useful recommendations,” Keon wrote to staff last month, noting his office fell in Quintile 4. “There is much to be said for the committee’s recommendations for transforming my office and I look forward to working on these recommendations with my staff.” A Düsseldorf, Germany, native, Mueller was hired by Purdue Northwest in 2016 after its merger as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Prior, he worked for the University of Hartford, University of Toledo, and George Washington University, according to Purdue’s website.