 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
since 12/15/98 |
| Columns::September 16, 2002 The forest and the trees Southern forest products industry loses $430 million Fiber artist’s exhibition challenges stereotypes about ‘women’s work’ Helping hands University Council will consider domestic partners policy at first meeting Sound science Campus Closeup Two curators, deputy director join Georgia Museum of Art Newsmakers Good vibrations Campus News Parting thoughts Provost reflects on successes, challenges of her tenure at UGA Karen A. Holbrook, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at UGA, spoke to Columns about her tenure at
Columns: What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment at UGA? Holbrook: Establishing communications and trust with people inside UGA and those outside the university who support it--whether by sending their children, their good ideas or their personal resources. Columns: What was it like to develop a new provost’s office while at the same time creating so many new academic programs? Holbrook: Exhilarating. The Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs was already well established in terms of its support for different programs and units. Dr. Prokasy had worked within the new structure, with the changed reporting lines, before I came in, so my task was made easier. We added associate provosts for international affairs, institutional effectiveness and institutional diversity, drawing people from within UGA and off campus. This team worked to facilitate the development of new programs. The exhilarating part was the success and innovation of the faculty in creating first-class programs from raw ideas. Columns: How are the new program initiatives doing? Holbrook: The new School of Public and International Affairs has been established, its first dean selected, additional faculty are being recruited and plans are being made to expand programs. The dean of the new College of Environment and Design is working with his faculty to develop an innovative school that combines two outstanding units. They will collaborate to solve environmental problems from complementary perspectives. The New Media Institute is a success--its classrooms are state-of-the-art, due in part to support from the Georgia Research Alliance, and its students are earning interdisciplinary certificates alongside traditional degrees. The efforts of the Faculty of Engineering have sparked a doubling of first-year enrollment in our engineering programs. The Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute is preparing a new graduate curriculum while planning for the construction of the $40 million Coverdell building where it will be housed. The public health initiative is well under way. A fine arts initiative continues to cut across various programs--and new programs for undergraduates, like the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities, continue to grow. Columns: Given your background in medical schools, do you expect the UGA biomedical institute to become a medical school? Holbrook: No. Our role is not to train doctors, but to train the biomedical scientists who will help create new knowledge and tools for doctors. Our faculty felt we could become the newest and fastest-growing health sciences research institute in the Southeast, and that is indeed happening. UGA’s funding from the National Institutes of Health more than doubled over the past two years. With support from the legislature, we have built collaborative programs with the Medical College of Georgia, including our combined effort in the Georgia Cancer Coalition. The institute exists to support these activities, increase our funding opportunities and improve recruiting for top grad students. It is also how we can incubate whole new programs--like we are doing with public health and the neurosciences. Columns: What is the impact of the economic downturn on these plans? Holbrook: Budget cuts are a fact of life for state-funded schools. They come in cycles, and you have to survive them. It’s hard on new programs that may only have low-level funding in the first place. So you have to be creative to see them through the downturn and make sure that everyone understands their positive economic implications for the future. Columns: What has been your greatest disappointment at UGA? Holbrook: The fact that we did not get the bachelor of science in engineering degree approved by the board of regents. I have said repeatedly that no one “owns” an academic discipline, and the state deserves the chance for students to receive a general engineering degree in a liberal arts environment. Aside from Idaho and Rhode Island, Georgia is the only state in the union with only one full-scale engineering program. Texas has A&M, Texas Tech, UT-Austin and three more campuses. Columns: You have been credited with bringing the engineering discussion into the public forum. Why take this on? Holbrook: First, because it is the right thing to do for the state, for our students and for the health of the institution overall. Engineering is essential for every major research university because it strengthens programs campus-wide. For example, UGA has by far the state system’s largest concentration of faculty and resources in the life sciences. If the state is serious about strengthening Georgia’s role in the biotechnology sector, then engineering at UGA has to be allowed to evolve with appropriate degree programs. This is true in other fields, like ecology and water resources. In support of our engineering initiative, Duke’s dean of engineering said, “Without comprehensive engineering, any research university is incomplete and obsolete.” Columns: You don’t sound like you are disengaging from UGA issues yet. As you move toward a new presidency, what will you miss here? Holbrook: I will miss the excitement of an institution that is in the throes of major change and major progress, the opportunity to participate in a capital campaign and to see many things under discussion come to fruition. But most of all, I will miss working with so many wonderful people. Jim and I have never enjoyed a community more, and we’ll always have Georgia in our hearts. Columns: Do you have any advice for a new provost at UGA? Holbrook: Let’s just say that UGA provided me with some of the most engaging and rewarding years of my career. |
|
|
UGA Today supports QuickTime, Flash, RealPlayer and Acrobat Reader (PDF files). Download information about these plug-ins. Affiliate icons for UGA Today COLUMNS ] UGA Today ] Subscribe ] News Bureau ] Office of Public Affairs Directory ] Photo Services ] Broadcast, Video & Photography ] Master Calendar] Columns ] Georgia Magazine ]Visitors Center ] UGA Home ] Alumni ] Admissions ] UGA Directories ] Sports ] Weather ] Search UGA sites ] Columns is produced by the UGA News Service, a unit of UGA Public Affairs. Beth Roberts: Columns editor, Juliett Dinkins: Columns managing editor, Janet Beckley: Columns art director. Peter Frey: Columns photo editor Questions or comments should be directed to columns@uga.edu Copyright 2002 University of Georgia. All rights reserved |
