Candidate for provost compliments
Purdue
By Laura Pelner
Campus
Editor
When asked what attracted her to Purdue, the third
candidate for provost replied "What's not to love?"
Joan Lorden, the dean of the Graduate School and
the associate provost for research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham,
is Purdue's third provost candidate. The provost will be the chief academic
officer of the University and will replace Robert Ringel, the executive
vice president for academic affairs, when he retires at the end of the
semester.
Lorden said that Purdue has done a lot to help
take itself to the next level because the students are good and getting
better, and the University has recognition and loyal alumni.
She said that Purdue as a research institution
has been committed to high quality education and research.
"Purdue's research has a global impact," said Lorden.
She also said that public research universities
should provide access to students regardless of their financial situations.
"We need to keep open the doors of the University
to all of the students who are qualified," said Lorden. "We need to
find them, identify them and bring them in to higher education. We can't
afford to lose them."
Lorden gave examples of some of the areas of research
institutions that she thinks increased in the recent past. She said
there has been growth in many schools' budgets, faculty sizes and their
academic programs.
There was also one major difference that Lorden
noted — the justification for research and funding. "There is more
motivation for economic development. Now the view of research is one
of an economic engine."
Despite the focus on money, Lorden said that dollars
alone are not the key to research, but that the quality of the research
is more important.
Over 60 people attended the open forum for Lorden,
and many asked her questions about her personal experiences.
Mike Forman, the associate dean of the School of
Science, asked how Lorden compares one university to another to measure
its success.
She replied that it's hard to benchmark an institution
because it has so many different facets. "(At Alabama) we look at other
urban institutions to see what they're doing."
But she also said that different schools in the
University look at different things when they judge their successes.
"A university is too complicated to pick one or two (schools to benchmark
from)."
Forman also asked about leadership in different
departments and how the heads of different areas should control their
respective parts.
Lorden replied that there is no one right way to
set up the system. "There is no magic formula. I look at the outcome
(to gauge the success of the department and its leaders)."
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