Linda Seestedt-Stanford, who has been serving as Western Carolina University’s interim provost since last summer, is returning to her previous position as dean of the College of Health and Human Science to help the college make the transition into its new four-story, 160,000-square-foot building, a $46 million project featuring clinical and laboratory spaces, and offices and meeting areas for College of Health and Human Sciences programs that are currently located across four buildings.

New WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher appointed Beth Tyson Lofquist, associate provost, to serve as the new interim provost.

The Office of the Provost oversees every aspect of academics at WCU. The provost position has been held open in anticipation of a new chancellor taking the helm, with the job of hiring a permanent provost being deferred to the new administration. With Belcher now in place, the university will soon launch a national search for a permanent provost.

Lofquist became the university’s associate provost in 2008, She had been associate vice chancellor for academic affairs since 2005 and before that the head of the department of birth through kindergarten, elementary and middle grades education from 2002 to 2005.

She holds three degrees from WCU – a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, a master’s degree in early childhood education and an educational specialist degree in intermediate education.