Office of the Provost

Meet the Provost

Rod Decker Dr. Rodney Decker began serving as SUU Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs on August 1, 2007. In that capacity, as the chief academic officer, Dr. Decker provides vital leadership for the development and maintenance of quality academic programs, academic support, recruitment and retention of faculty and academic personnel, and the strategic academic direction for the institution.

A veteran faculty and academic administrator, Provost Decker has over 40 years of teaching, research, and administrative experience at the collegiate level, and has served as Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences for 23 years. Dr. Decker began his career as an instructor in the Political Science Department at Southern Utah State College in 1965. He continued on with SUSC as assistant, associate, and then tenured professor in political science. He has also served as chairman of SUSC’s Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences. In addition to the Provost’s long history at SUU, he’s formed working relationships with several esteemed institutions, including working as an instructor in the Foreign Study League in Italy, Austria, the Netherlands and England, and as an instructor for Utah State University’s Master of Social Sciences Public Administration degree.

SUU President Michael T. Benson holds Provost Decker in high regard, noting, "There is no one on campus who has more institutional memory than Dr. Decker. And with that memory also comes an amazing commitment to this institution and its future. We're very fortunate to have someone of Rod's experience, acumen, and demeanor as part of our administrative team. For me, he's not the 'interim' provost -- he's the Provost until he chooses to retire."

True to his political science roots, the Provost is involved in many academic, political and community organizations, including the Western Political Science Association, the American Society for Public Administration, the Utah Political Science Association, Pi Sigma Alpha, Phi Alpha Theta, Pi Alpha Alpha, the Iron County Historical Society, the Utah Association of Academic Professionals, the Council of College of Arts & Sciences, the Rocky Mountain Deans Association, and is an active participant in the WPSA, ASPA, CCAS, and RMDA. At SUU and in Iron County, he’s served on nearly 40 different organizational committees, and his experience spans everything from the Utah Shakespearean Festival Council to the Iron County Search & Rescue team. In the academic realm, Dr. Decker has written or presented more than 20 different scholarly works.

Dr. Decker received his Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree in Political Science at Utah State University. He earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Utah, focusing his studies on public administration, state and local government, American government and political theory.

Dr. Decker moved to Cedar City in 1965, and met his wife Lea at then, Southern Utah State College. Together, they’ve made Southern Utah their home, and have one son, two daughters and four horses. After a hard day, the Provost relaxes by riding his horses, gardening (he cans his home-grown fruits and vegetables), and reading biographies. A true outdoorsman, Dr. Decker also loves to hunt and fish.