Pres., Prov. still busy with work

and Jorie Green Anyone who thinks Interim President Claire Fagin and Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson are taking it easy for their last two weeks in office has not seen either of their schedules. In fact, the two seem to be busier now than they've ever been -- difficult work for someone who is "very very ready" to step down, as Fagin said she is. But Fagin also maintains that her job does not -- and will not -- end until her term ends June 30. "Nothing has stopped -- nobody is waiting for the new president in terms of doing what is the routine jobs of the president," she said. "All my updates continue in terms of the various people I see on a regular basis." Fagin further described the presidency as "the position which continues and continues and continues," saying that she will still be "exceedingly busy" for the next two weeks. "It does not feel like a year, it feels like much more," she said. "On the one hand it has gone fast, on the other hand it's been a lifetime." Fagin's schedule -- this week --calls for a review of the Code of Student Conduct, Student Judicial System and Reserve Officer Training Corps proposals, all of which are supposed to be submitted to her by Lazerson by the end of the week. In addition, over the next two weeks she has scheduled meetings with the University's budget office, General Council, development office, senior planning office, President's Advisory Group and several others. Finally, she has "a number of speeches" she needs to both write and give, including the inaugural lecture at the new Penn Club of New York and ones at Wharton and Johnson & Johnson. This is all in addition to writing the annual President's Report and "getting my life in order for the future," she said. Fagin added that she has been in contact with President-elect Judith Rodin "at least once a week," in addition to sending her memos on "things that I feel are crucial for her to be aware of." "I think our communication is excellent," she said. Meanwhile, in the provost's office Lazerson is also hard at work. He said he will spend his last two weeks in the provost's office "just trying to tie up loose ends." Although Lazerson will devote much of his energy to informing Provost-elect Stanley Chodorow of "ongoing issues so he can hit the ground running," finalizing promotions and appointments will take up "the biggest chunk of time." "This is the time of year when a large number of recommendations come from the schools to the provost on faculty appointments and promotions," Lazerson said. "A lot of time is spent on that." He said he has also spent time "meditating on having been a provost for a year" during his last hours in office. Lazerson said that upon contemplation, "the most interesting part of the job of being a provost is that you really are dealing with so many issues -- most of which you really don't know much about, because you don't have much expertise in them." He said he constantly has to judge how much he has to "find out about [a] particular issue in order to be thoughtful and effective on the issue." Lazerson added that the part of being provost which he will "miss the most and the least" is the "stimulation [of being involved] in so many important issues all at the same time." "That's what really drives you crazy," he said. "It takes an enormous amount of energy to be that involved in so many different things at once." Both Fagin and Lazerson will be leaving their respective positions June 30, and Rodin and Provost-elect Stanley Chodorow are expected to take office July 1.