Published Wednesday, July 31, 2019 | 3:22 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, July 31, 2019 | 4:13 p.m.
One of UNLV’s top administrators is leaving the university to work alongside her old boss, former UNLV President Len Jessup.
Diane Z. Chase, UNLV executive vice president and provost, has taken a newly created role at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California, CGU announced today. Meanwhile, UNLV announced that Chris Heavey would serve as interim executive vice president and provost at UNLV until a national search is conducted to fill the position long-term.
Jessup, who left UNLV in 2018 for GCU, said in the announcement that Chase would serve as vice president for academic innovation, student success and strategic initiatives, effective Sept. 1.
"She will be responsible for the entire student life cycle, including recruiting, admissions, onboarding, student experience, retention, graduation and related student outcomes," Jessup said. "I’m confident that this integrative approach to student success across the graduate program life cycle will benefit not only our students, but also the long-term position and success of CGU."
As UNLV president, Jessup hired Chase in 2016 from the University of Central Florida, where she had served as a vice provost. At UNLV, her accomplishments include helping the university achieve elite status as a research institution in 2018, improving student achievement and enhancing student support systems.
Chase, an anthropologist and archaeologist, will be joined in the Claremont system by her husband, Arlen. GCU announced that Arlen Chase, also an anthropologist, will become a faculty member at Pomona College.
In a statement to the UNLV campus, Chase expressed gratitude to her colleagues and to the Las Vegas community, and said "UNLV is on an upward trajectory" as she departs for Claremont.
Heavey, who will replace Chase on an interim basis, spent the past year as senior vice provost after serving for two years as dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
Chase’s departure comes during a dynamic time in the leadership of UNLV and elsewhere in the Nevada System of Higher Education. NSHE launched a national search for Jessup’s successor in February, with an initial timeline that called for its search committee to begin meeting this fall and for a president to be in place by July 2020.
Meanwhile, NSHE Chancellor Thom Reilly announced he would not serve past his three-year contract, which expires in 2020, creating the possibility that the next UNLV president will not know whom they will be reporting to upon taking the job.
UNLV has been led by acting President Marta Meana since July 2018. Although an NSHE rule bars acting presidents from being considered candidates in searches for long-term presidents, the Nevada Board of Regents waived that rule for Meana. Meana has not formally announced whether she would enter the search but indicated that she was likely to do so.
The rule waiver drew criticism from some UNLV supporters, who said it would create a perception among prospective candidates that Meana was the favored candidate.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with information from UNLV.
