The Triangle

Issue date: 6/27/08 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: Photo Dept.

It has been about a month since Provost Stephen Director announced that he would be leaving Drexel to head to our co-op brethren of the north, Northeastern University. The last time Drexel had to search for a new provost, it took a committee of administrators, faculty and students 18 months to find and decide on Director.
With so many changes happening around the University, it will not facilitate campus progress if Drexel takes another 18 months to find the next Provost.
Drexel needs to keep its students involved in the selection process, as they are the ones affected by the decisions the provost makes, and with Drexel growing every year, we need someone that can lead the University through this time of great changes.
There is no question that students should be involved in the selection of the next provost, but in order for students to make an informed decision about who the chief academic officer at Drexel will be, they must understand what the provost does at this University.
There is one provost, three vice provosts, six associate vice provosts, and one assistant vice provost. That's a total of 11 people with "provost" in their title. Some handle research funding while others deal with tenure, but we feel that as a whole, students don't know what the office does beyond the blanket term "academics."
It's nobody's fault that this is the case. Rather, it's more a matter of awareness; there is not enough on the provost's office's side, and there seems to be a basic attitude of apathy towards the topic on the students' side. Whatever the reason, it needs to change.
Drexel is on the doorstep of breaking through to the next level of respect and prominence as a University, and the next provost could be the one that gets Drexel there.
Now more than ever, the selection committee must make they hire the right person for the job. This is the time for students to get more educated on what the provost does, and for the new provost keep students aware of what his or her office is doing to advance the University.

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