Neal takes office as 'U' interim president

Interim University President Homer Neal took office on Monday, filling the position vacated by James Duderstadt. He moved to the post from his position as University Vice President for Research, which he has held since 1993.

Neal said he looks forward most to the responsibilities of the presidency. "I look forward to making those decisions that need to be made during the interim period," Neal said in an interview with The Michigan Daily.

Neal comes to the position with "at least 20 years in University administration." Previously, Neal served as the chairperson of the University's Physics department and in the administration at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He obtained a master's degree and a doctorate in physics from the University in 1963 and 1966, respectively.

Neal said he thinks a number of issues will be extremely important to the University community. He said he will work to maintain initiatives already in place. "It's a big agenda made of bite-size pieces which I hope we can chew on," Neal said.

Neal said health care will require a lot of attention. "We'll be dealing with an entity where tens of millions of dollars will be in question," he said.

Increasing undergraduate research opportunities will be one focus of his administration, Neal said. "We often hear students don't have a chance to have substantive (research) experiences with professors," he said. "We want to be able to guarantee such an experience."

Neal said such opportunities are already available to UROP and Honors program students. "We want to take the extra step and make sure it's available to all students," Neal said.

Neal estimated implementation of a University-wide research program would take one year.

Neal also said he wanted to "boost the level of activity" at the University's Washington D.C. office., which serves as "a home away from home" for members of the University. Neal said he would like to see video conferencing applications available in the office.

Plans to set up new communication mechanisms for students, faculty and staff are also in Neal's plans, he said. Neal said he will set up a "reasonably sized" advisory group representative of groups across the University. He said he would like the group to meet with the group to discuss campus issues.

Neal said many University initiatives will continue to be extremely important, including its commitment to diversity, NCAA recertification, the change to the VCM budgeting system, education cost management and renovation of campus buildings.

Neal said he is not interested in extending his presidency beyond the interim time period and he will return to his research post as soon as a new president is chosen. He said he does not want to give up his research (in high-energy physics), which he said he thinks would be necessary if he maintained the presidential position. He said he has too much fun in the physics lab to give it up just yet. "Everyone would be asking 'Where is he? Why isn't he fixing this problem?'" he said.

Neal said he would be willing to accept a permanent University presidency down the road, during his "five to eight pre-retirement" years.

The Neals will not be moving into the president's house located on South University Avenue. Neal said the property will still be used for official University functions during the interim period.

Neal said if students could take one message from his presidency, he would want them "to feel there are benefits to attending one of the nation's top research universities."

Associate Medical School Dean Frederick Neidhardt will be filling Neal's former post. Rick Price, a Psychology professor, will fill Neidhardt's vacated position.

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