USU Eastern Names Finalists in Associate Vice President Search

PRICE, Utah — After a broad nationwide search, the Utah State University Eastern search committee has recommended four finalists for the position of associate vice president & chief campus administrator. The four finalists are, in alphabetical order: Andrea L. Fricks, M. Scott Henrie, Douglas R. Miller, and Daniel G. Peterson.

“We had an excellent pool of candidates and a lot of interest in this position,” said Kristian Olsen, senior associate vice president for USU Blanding & Moab. “Having these finalists on the USU Eastern campus will help us find the right leader to take USU Eastern into its next chapter.”

The search committee is being chaired by Olsen and is also composed of the following individuals:

• Gina Gagon, vice chair of the USU Board of Trustees.
• Brian Warnick, interim department head for Technology, Design and Technical Education.
• Derrik Tollefson, professor and director of the I-System Institute for Transdisciplinary Studies.
• Jan Thornton, clinical associate professor.
• Crissy Downs Cisneros; financial officer.
• Andrea Hunt, assistant vice president.
• Madysen Probst, student.
• Sydney Ho, event coordinator.

Next steps

Candidates had virtual interviews during the week of July 10, and finalists will now come to the USU Eastern campus on July 27-28 for in-person interviews and meetings, including meeting with faculty, staff, students and Carbon County community members.

Public forums will be at 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. in the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center alumni room on both dates, allowing each of the four candidates to meet with stakeholders. All are invited and welcome to attend on campus or virtually using aggie.link/eastern-avp-interview. Attendees of the public forum are invited to complete the candidate survey at: https://aggie.link/eastern-avp-survey.

Public meeting schedule

Utah State University Eastern Campus

Jennifer Leavitt Student Center (Alumni Room)

• July 27: 11-11:30 a.m. — Andrea Fricks
• July 27: 12:15-12:45 p.m. — Daniel Peterson
• July 28: 11-11:30 a.m. — Douglas Miller
• July 28: 12:15-12:45 p.m. — Scott Henrie

Candidate Biographies

Andrea L. Fricks

Andrea L. Fricks has served as executive director and chief campus administrator at Florida Career College in Jacksonville since 2022. Fricks has experience as a campus president, executive director and chief campus administrator at multi-site career education institutions across various cities and states. She has served as a leader in higher education for more than 18 years with many accomplishments in enrollment, retention, career placement and collections.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Fricks served as president of the Ohio-Michigan Association of Career Colleges and Schools. In addition, she fulfilled a gubernatorial appointment term as vice chair of the Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools. Fricks holds a master’s degree in business administration & management from Strayer University, a master’s degree in education from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree in human services from the University of Phoenix. Fricks is also a doctoral candidate at Grand Canyon University, with an anticipated graduation date of December 2024.

M. Scott Henrie

Scott Henrie is a lifelong Utah resident who grew up on the Wasatch Front and moved to Price to work for the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office in 1985. After working in the county jail and as a patrol deputy for seven years, he accepted a position with the Utah Department of Corrections, Adult Probation and Parole where he worked as a field probation/parole agent and supervisor in the Price office for the next nine years. The last five years of his law enforcement career he was the regional administrator for Adult Probation and Parole.

Henrie completed his undergraduate degree from Weber State University and his graduate degree in Administration of Justice and Security from the University of Phoenix. During this time, he was also certified by the State of Utah as a public manager.

In 1994 he became employed as a part-time police officer at the College of Eastern Utah police department. This led to a teaching position as an adjunct instructor in 1997 teaching in the PE program. In 2004, he began teaching criminal justice classes at CEU and quickly found a passion for teaching.

He retired from law enforcement in 2005 to accept a full-time teaching position at CEU. In 2010 he was fortunate to be a part of the merger of CEU and Utah State University. He took a short leave from full-time teaching for a couple of years when he was appointed as the associate vice chancellor for the Arts and Science division at the USU Eastern campus.

In 2013, Henrie returned to the criminal justice department and created the first satellite POST academy at USU Eastern. Currently, he is the program director for the four-year criminal justice degree and is the director of the USU Eastern Police Academy.

Douglas R. Miller

Douglas R. Miller is a faculty member in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. Miller holds a doctorate in strategic management and entrepreneurship from Washington State University, an MBA from the University of Montana and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from USU.

In addition to being an award-winning educator, Miller is a sought-after speaker on creative problem solving, leading with emotional intelligence, and developing leader potential. He is an active researcher and studies firm innovation and entrepreneurship, with particular attention placed on the efforts that a firm makes to protect its innovative practices. He also studies the psychological ownership of founders and the impact that psychological ownership has on equity distribution amongst the founding team.

Miller is a passionate advocate for rural Utah and a strong supporter of the university-community partnerships that make USU Eastern great.

Daniel G. Peterson

Daniel G. Peterson has been active in higher education for more than 25 years, having recently served as president of the Online Division at Herzing University, chief executive officer and president of Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, and chief executive officer and chancellor at Daymar College. Peterson is currently employed as a management consultant for MARK Logistics in Oklahoma and Texas.

Peterson retired from the Utah Air National Guard and the United States Air Force in 2008 with 23 years of service. As both enlisted and an officer, he served in Information Systems and Aircraft Maintenance, retiring as commander of the 151st Communication Flight.

Peterson holds a doctorate degree in curriculum & instruction from USU, as well as an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree in business administration & marketing from USU. He is married with four children and resides in Park City, Utah.