Potential provost Coward makes first appearance

Working on a campus where institutional pride is rampant and future success is sought is what sparks one provost candidate’s interest in Utah State University.

Raymond Coward, current dean of the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State, spoke to an audience of faculty, staff, administrators and students Tuesday afternoon about what he believes the role of a provost in a 21st century land-grant university is.

Coward broke down his lecture into two parts, the role of a provost and what it means to be a land-grant university today.

“For me to come to Logan and suggest to you that I know what the role of the provost should be at Utah State would be a little obnoxious of me since many of you have been here for 25 years or more and I haven’t been here for 25 hours,” Coward said as a segue into what he believes are good qualities a provost should encompass.

Noelle Cockett, interim provost, said she agrees with Coward that there should be an institutional pride among all Aggies to further the success of USU.

“USU has to be totally behind what we are and believe in what we are and believe in where we want to be,” she said.

A provost acts as a representative of the university both on and off campus, Coward said, especially in working with the Legislature, alumni and federal agencies. Secondly, a provost is a problem solver.

“This is actually the one I love the most in my current job as a dean,” he said, adding the provost works with all branches and departments of the university in order to make university life appeasing to all.

Other qualities a provost should have are good leadership skills and ability to stimulate discussion and debate, Coward said.

The second aspect of Coward’s lecture dealt with the challenges a land-grant university like USU faces.

“Not all land-grant universities are created equal,” he said.

Universities differ in size, context and history, Coward said, which impacts the amount of resources provided by the state to the institution.

“If you’ve been to one land-grant institution, you’ve been to one land-grant institution,” Coward said, emphasizing his point that each university deals with specific challenges facing that university.

Currently, many universities are facing the problem of how to maintain quality education and accessibility to individuals, Coward said.

“The question becomes how far can we go to walk the fine line of accessibility and [quality education]?” he said.

Throughout his lecture, Coward opened up time for audience members to ask questions about his position on various topics. One such challenge a faculty member raised was faculty compensation. USU faculty hasn’t seen a raise in the last three years.

Coward said if faculty and staff compensation were to raise 4 percent, then tuition would increase 10 percent and there would be an 8 percent increase in appropriations by the Legislature.

“That is a very significant challenge,” he said.

Another issue raised by the audience was how to increase diversity among the student body and university staff.

“Every university in the world with a conscience is trying [to accomplish this],” he said.

Understanding the challenges that Coward may face, Cockett says one of the most pressing is getting all aspects of the university – students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members – to support the same goal.

“When you get to the provost level, you get the complexities of all the relationships and all the issues,” she said. “I think the complexities of these issues aren’t appreciated until you get to the provost level.”

Spencer Watts, ASUSU academic senate president, said the one thing USU’s future provost should be is a strong advocate for academics. Although not many students turned up for Tuesday’s lecture, Watts said having these open forums has been beneficial.

“It’s also a great way for anyone that’s involved in the university to ask these candidates questions,” he said. “This is a great way to help people voice their concerns.”

Coward is one of three candidates for the provost and executive vice president position. Ovid Plumb and Belinda McCarthy are the others.

– kcashton@cc.usu.edu