John Haven III
John Haven, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s vice chancellor for finance and administration, has been appointed vice president/chief budget officer for business and finance at the University of West Georgia.
Haven will start work in August at UWG in Carrollton, Georgia., about 50 miles southwest of Atlanta.
“This is purely a family-driven decision, and not a reflection on the great people I work with every day here at UWEC,” Haven says. “I really developed an appreciation for what it means to be a Blugold and understand the strong commitment to delivering a top-notch education by our faculty and staff.”
Chancellor James Schmidt praised Haven for his leadership and contributions to UW-Eau Claire during difficult budget challenges that include the COVID-19 pandemic.
“John has helped transform financial planning at UW-Eau Claire in addition to providing strategic vision in the face of a pandemic,” Schmidt says. “I have relied on John’s finance and budget knowledge, especially as we prepare to welcome students back for the fall semester. He leaves with a legacy of getting things done and creating a strong team who will continue to serve our university well.”
Search and Screen Committee to be formed
The chancellor has met with UW-Eau Claire’s shared governance leaders and received their support to conduct a nationwide search for a vice chancellor of finance and administration. Nominations for faculty, academic staff, university staff and students to serve on the search and screen committee will begin immediately. The committee will meet during August. Nominations for members from faculty, academic staff and students are due by Friday, July 24. Faculty and academic staff are invited to send their nominations to any member of the Universitywide Nominating Committee: Liliana LaValle, Kati Schaller, Christy Mulock and Kati Ritland-Clouse or to Tanya Kenney. Students should send their names to Anna Ziebell. Nominations for members from university staff are due Monday, July 20, at 5 p.m. (due to the timing of University Staff Council meetings). University staff nominations should be emailed to usc@uwec.edu.
Haven came to UW-Eau Claire in September 2018 from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, where he served as executive director of college administration and chief financial officer.
Haven says he is proud of the positive changes that have occurred in his nearly two years at UW-Eau Claire.
Among those changes are starting an all non-academic directors communications group to foster communication across divisions, developing required manager training and working to increase diversity initiatives in the division, including hiring a person of color to join the campus police department.
Haven says UW-Eau Claire personnel worked well in cross-functional teams to address budget shortfalls caused by COVID-19.
“We’ve increased budget transparency and collaborated across the campus and with governance to strategize on our budget cuts to address the state lapse,” Haven says.
