Provost discusses plans with SACUA

In a meeting designed to better the relations between the faculty and the administration, the new University provost and the faculty's governing body met for the first time yesterday to find ways the two groups can effectively work together.

Provost Nancy Cantor pledged to strengthen the previously strained relationship between the faculty and the Office of the Provost. And members of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs listened attentively and offered their assistance.

"It certainly has varied," SACUA member Barbara MacAdam, who leads the education and information services library, said about past relations. "It has not always been ideal."

MacAdam said that the provost has a "responsibility to work with faculty."

Cantor said she wants to continue to make improvements, which began under her predecessor, J. Bernard Machen.

"My sense is that things have been getting closer and closer, and I'd like to keep that going," Cantor said.

MacAdam said that in a school as large and diverse as the University, there must be an atmosphere of cooperation and shared values between the provost and the faculty.

During the short half-hour meeting with SACUA, Cantor stressed that the provost's office must uphold a certain set of core values.

"I see it as my responsibility, my office's responsibility, and (University President Lee Bollinger's) office's responsibility not to shy away from values," Cantor said. "I will be willing to stand forth for what I believe."

Some of these beliefs include continuing to make the University a leader in interdisciplinary research, which some feel could be in danger because of a new system called valued centered management, a method of allocating money to schools within the University.

In this new form of budgeting, each school within the University is responsible for its own budget, instead of a central department paying for each school's common expenses and then giving extra money for the school's projects or research.

"I want the University to support the school," Cantor said. "I want people to feel if there's a new venture (they would like to do) ... there are still ways to do that."

The provost also discussed her plans to try and attend all Senate Assembly meetings in order to get a better feel for the needs of the faculty. The Senate Assembly, a gathering of all members of the faculty body, meets once a month.

Carol Loveland-Cherry, vice-chair of SACUA and Nursing School associate professor, said she hopes the strong relationship that she's always seen between the provost and faculty will continue.

"It's always been very productive," said Loveland-Cherry, adding that the role of faculty input in University decisions is essential to continuing this positive relationship.

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