The Office of Marketing and Communications, along with University Advancement, is putting together a committee to fill the position of Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications.

The position, recently held by Christian Flathman, was vacated on May 10.

Flathman left Georgia Southern University to work for a Fortune 100 company, Salinda Arthur, vice president for university advancement, said.

“[Flathman] helped coordinate the overall perception of the university. Part of that is that there are so many good things going on at our institution, and we’re large,” Teresa Thompson, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, said.

Whenever there was good news to celebrate with a press conference Flathman had to coordinate all those things, Thompson said.

Before Flathman left, a plan was created that detailed the work that needed to be accomplished, Arthur said.

“This allows us to start interviewing people this summer, so we can get them onboard by this fall. It is important that we get someone here as quickly as possible, but also choosing the right person is important,” Thompson said.

The offices will do what they have to do to make sure GSU continues to be successful, Thompson said.

In the meantime, Angela Harn, assistant director of advancement and marketing, is serving as the interim associate vice president.

“I’m grateful that we have someone like Angela, who has been with us for a while and understands the kinds of things that need to happen,” Arthur said.

The search committee will look for candidates that meet the required qualifications and hopefully meet the preferred qualifications, which are higher education and corporate experience, Arthur said.

“I would hope that the person has experience in higher education, because marketing and telling the story of higher education is different than marketing and telling the story of a business. Although we are a business to some extent, it is just a whole different process,” Thompson said.

“We work closely with marketing and communications to help develop publications and get information out to our perspective student population,” Thompson said.

While the search committee hopes to fill the position as soon as possible, the process will continue as long as necessary, Arthur said.

“It’s important to get the right fit for Georgia Southern,” Arthur said.

“I hope [the applicants] understand that Georgia Southern is a very student-centered organization and university and we look to promote is the success of our students,” Thompson said. “I think if you could show good role modeling by our faculty then it really tells the true Georgia Southern student.”