Lazerson won't seek provost job

Amid continuing rumors to the contrary, Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson said again last week he is not in the running to become the University's next permanent provost. "I do not expect to be the provost next year," Lazerson said, blushing at the suggestion that, despite repeated denials, he was a candidate for the post. "There's a tradition in universities that you are supposed to be coy about what you want," he added. "I don't think anybody has ever referred to me as coy." And Lazerson's executive assistant, Linda Koons, said the interim provost has made it clear to his staff that he does not want the job. "He likes to teach," Koons said of the former graduate school of education dean. "He's already planning his classes for the fall. He likes his time off. He doesn't like to be consumed by a job." Koons said Lazerson has been approached about several top administrative posts at other colleges and universities and has turned down each inquiry. Several faculty members who asked not to be identified said they believe Lazerson is very much a candidate for the permanent provost's position. Provost Search Committee Chairperson Andrew Postlewaite said last week that his committee is "progressing satisfactorily." While Postlewaite has previously said he hoped his committee would announce the new provost in February, he said last week this "might be a bit optimistic." Koons said she expects the announcement will be made sometime in March. President-elect Judith Rodin, currently the provost at Yale University, will ultimately select the next provost from a list of finalists. Rodin, who has been on vacation and could not be reached for comment last week, has been in consultation with a transition team being run out of University Secretary Barbara Steven's office, University officials said. Lazerson said Rodin's selection as the first female Ivy League president has created excitement in higher education circles nationwide. He added that, because of Rodin, he is confident the University will be able to select "a truly great provost." Now at the half-way mark in his one-year term as provost, Lazerson said the hardest issue he has faced to date is "getting the University to think of itself as a community rather than a federation of disparate parts." He added that, along with Interim President Claire Fagin, he can claim "a great deal of success" in this area. He pointed to more cooperation between deans and a renewed focus on undergraduate education throughout the University as examples of this success. One of the most surprising aspects of the interim provost's job is adjusting to the vast number of issues with which he must deal on a daily basis, Lazerson added. Before his term ends, Lazerson said he expects challenges to lie in implementing the recommendations of the Commission of Strengthening the Community and finalizing the Revlon Center design and beginning construction. He added that he hopes to build "more programs at a time when we have less and less dollars." Despite fiscal constraints, the interim provost said he expects the University will have less difficulty balancing its budget this year than last, he said. Last year, the University was forced to announce it would run a multi-million dollar deficit for the second year in a row.