[media-credit name=’CATHERINE SKROCH/Herald Photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]One by one, they walked up to shake the hand of the woman who could be the University of Wisconsin's next provost.

Smiling and small-talking her way through it all was Sue Rosser, candidate for UW's vacant provost position — second in rank at the university — and the guest of honor at a reception held Monday evening in the Birge Hall lobby.

Meeting a number of UW administrators and faculty members for the first time, Rosser addressed a bevy of issues brought to her by various UW officials. However, saying it would be "premature" and "presumptuous" to speak in depth about them before hearing the whole story, Rosser chose not to delve into any specific strategies.

"I'm not going to walk in here off the street and say, 'Oh, they should do this, they should do that,'" Rosser said during an interview as the last of the attendees said their goodbyes and filtered out of the lobby. "The situation is complex. We need to find out what they're trying, what's working, what's not working, and work in concert with them."

Rosser added she had not met with Chancellor John Wiley and many other university representatives yet and wanted to wait and see what their "vision for the future" was before speaking about hers.

Monday evening's routine, however, provided Rosser, currently dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Institute of Technology, with a taste of what she will go through today when she embarks on a marathon run of interviews with various campus representatives.

"I'm excited. I'm interested to see all the folks, to really learn a little bit more about what's going on here," Rosser said. "It will be a long day, but I think it will be an exciting day."

One subject Rosser did address Monday was funding. Rosser said the 10 percent decrease in funding UW has experienced in the past 10 years is a "real issue."

"It makes it hard for students, it makes it hard for the faculty, it makes it hard to maintain the excellent reputation of the institution," Rosser said, adding she would follow the lead of the chancellor when it came to funding issues.

"It's really his job. It's not the job of the provost," she said.

Rosser also spoke about the importance of diversity Monday, saying it was an integral part of preparing UW students for today's "global world market."

"It's important for all students to be exposed to diversity so that when they get out into the work world, they can interact appropriately with individuals from diverse backgrounds," Rosser said.

After Rosser completes the last step of her interview process, it will be up to Wiley to make the ultimate decision of who will succeed Interim Provost Virginia Sapiro next year.

Wiley is expected to select between Rosser and Patrick Farrell, associate dean of the UW College of Engineering, who is the other remaining candidate for UW's provost position.

Though there is no word on when Wiley is expected to make his selection, UW officials Monday spoke about what they hoped to see in a potential provost.

"Campus-wide now — with the budget situation that we're in — it's really important that we have someone in the leadership role that can see us through," Robin Douthitt, dean of the School of Human Ecology, said. "Leadership is the No. 1 characteristic that I'm looking for."