Interim provost discusses goals

Communications professor and Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Vincent Price will step in as the interim provost in March as Penn searches for a replacement for current Provost Ron Daniels, who will serve as president of Johns Hopkins University.

Price, who has been at Penn for more than a decade, discussed what he hopes to accomplish in a conversation with The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The Daily Pennsylvanian: How did you end up at Penn?

Vincent Price: I finished my Ph.D. at Stanford back in the late 1980s and went to [the University of] Michigan for 11 years. I moved to Penn in 1998 to the Annenberg School. I was associate dean for undergraduate studies and then chair of the Faculty Senate. I joined the Provost's Office as associate provost of faculty affairs. It's been a gradual movement from one of Penn's small schools to really identifying with Penn as an entire institution.

DP: How were you selected to be interim provost?

VP: It's a decision made by the president to provide a smooth transition. It's kind of natural to have someone from within the provost's office to step into that role.

DP: How would you respond to concerns of a provost transition in the middle of a school year and a financial crisis?

VP: These things happen. The timing is a little bit unusual because it's late in the academic year cycle, but while I can understand the angst about that, I feel completely confident. In terms of impact on students, the transition will be seamless.

DP: What are your main responsibilities as interim provost, and what are your goals?

VP: The goals remain those articulated by the Penn Compact - increasing student access, improving our financial aid resources, collaborating with the schools to improve student life, diversifying the student body and the faculty [and] developing programs to mentor our faculty. The nature of an interim position is that it is interim, so I think it would be foolhardy to say that this is a time to launch new initiatives. I think the initiatives that we've laid out [like engaging locally and globally] have only just gotten off the ground.

DP: Many students are not familiar with the impact the provost's office has on students. Can you explain?

VP: The provost is the chief academic officer of the University. [Coordinating] faculty affairs, educational research and research work are the three big pieces of what the provost's office does.

DP: How will the current economy impact your decisions?

VP: Penn is actually very well-positioned to confront these challenges because we're a loose confederation of schools and we have a decentralized budgeting system. Penn is not as endowment-dependent as some of our peers and has been able to figure out how to manage per dollar more educational value. Sure, there's going to be belt-tightening, and we're working with the schools to figure out how to do that. They're in the best position to figure out how they can maximize opportunities. Our job is just to coordinate that at a university level to ensure long-term growth.

DP: What is your favorite food cart on campus?

VP: I like the burrito cart; they're the best inexpensive burritos you can buy. The burritos are a little large, but that's absolutely my favorite cart.

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