As of Feb. 24, Korhan Oyman has decided to step down as Florida Tech’s provost.
Oyman was appointed interim provost by Florida Tech’s President, T. Dwyane McCay, in Oct. of 2019. He began working in the position permanently by the spring 2020 semester.

A few months after Oyman entered the role of interim provost, McCay announced in a faculty senate meeting on Jan. 14 that a search committee would be formed in order to find a new permanent provost.
Nearly a week later, McCay sent an email to the Florida Tech community introducing Oyman as provost, filling the position permanently.
In an email to The Crimson, McCay said administration was in the process of forming the committee when Oyman committed to stay.
“He had a brilliant grasp of the issues impeding our progress in the academic arena,” McCay said. “Plus, I had a number of years of experience working with Dr. Oyman and he was an excellent fit for what we needed at this time.”
McCay also said that he did not need the committee’s approval of his decision of provost.
Oyman will continue to be provost until the end of the spring 2020 semester, May 8.
Associate Provost, Marc Baarmand, will be taking over most of Oyman’s duties.
Baarmand has been associate provost since Feb. 3. Over his years at Florida Tech, Baarmand has been a part of the faculty of the Aerospace, Physics and Space Sciences Department. He has also served as faculty senate president and has been a chair member for the Faculty Excellence Awards committee for numerous years.
According to Baarmand, associate provost acts as the second in command to the provost. Whereas, the provost acts as the second in command to the president of the university when it comes to the academic structure.
Baarmand explained that the offices that report to him are: Registrar, Online and Off-campus Education, Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Honors College and Graduate Programs.
“Needless to say that I support the daily operation of the Provost Office as needed, e.g. currently we are all dealing with the COVID-19 virus crisis and academic continuity plans,” Baarmand said over email.
Baarmand explained that his short term goals are to manage his unit and make sure of a smooth transition while Provost Oyman steps down, and a new provost takes over.
For his long term goals, Baarmand said he wants to devise and execute a plan to further enhance the university academics —both for the student learning experience as well as faculty teaching and research.
Oyman stated that due to personal reasons he has decided to step down.
“Being provost is very stressful and it is a demanding job,” Oyman said.
He added that it was time for him to leave his position.
He has plans on returning to the Department of Aeronautics as a faculty professor in which he formerly taught in before taking on the provost position.
During his time as provost, Oyman worked on making online classes more available, specifically for general education courses.
“I introduced this plan to give the students a little bit more flexibility with their schedules,” Oyman said.
Oyman stated that administrators do not always understand that students need to have a life outside of academics as well.
“Students need to have free time to work on their projects and courses but also to relax and enjoy a hobby,” Oyman said.
“I wish the person who takes over the best of luck,” Oyman said.