UW-Madison has spent the past couple of months trying to recover from the various administrative scandals and discredit the school's No. 1 party school reputation. Last month, Chancellor John Wiley named Patrick Farrell the new provost and, thus, vice chancellor of academic affairs. As he takes office this week, he, like many when they begin a new position, is extremely zealous with ideas that could change the university, considering his goal to achieve "a more cohesive vision for the campus." He said, "I think that vision exists in different places right now, but the university does not have a common perception of who we are, what we stand for and where we are going." UW-Madison cannot afford to go anywhere but forward, and hopefully, with Mr. Farrell's guidance, that is the direction that the university will go.
The position of provost requires a lot of work for the $238,468 salary that Mr. Farrell will receive to direct the academic mission of UW-Madison. As second in command, the provost also acts as chief executive officer of the university in the chancellor's absence. He is the chief academic officer and helps guide long-term academic direction through close collaboration with the deans of UW-Madison's 12 schools and colleges. The provost is responsible for faculty and staff development, diversity initiatives and enrollment management, and is the point person for shared governance. All of these tasks along with everyday problems require a great deal of the provost, which Mr. Farrell is more than capable of.
Mr. Farrell holds a bachelor's and doctoral degree from the University of Michigan, and a master's from the University of California–Berkeley. His experience began with his work building engines for General Motors, Ford and Toyota and led him to a career within the School of Engineering at UW-Madison, where he has been employed since 1982. At this position, he changed the program for mechanical engineers, along with others, to allow for a first-year course that put students into the community, actually designing things. Mr. Farrell eventually made his way to associate dean in 2001. His innovative actions will be put to the test as the new second in command of the university.
His focus for the first couple of months will be getting to know the different aspects of UW-Madison. Since Mr. Farrell has been around since 1982, his familiarity with the school and its students will work to his advantage. He said, "I plan to make it clear that campus-wide input will be important from the start." Mr. Farrell described his leadership style as both a collaborator and a coordinator who is happy to delegate important tasks while also maintaining close contact with staff. One of the main problems that he will have to tackle will be the constrained budget situation, which he says he has faced in the engineering department recently also. The approach that Mr. Farrell takes to resolving these money problems will make all the difference, as he is likely to find many who will criticize his actions.
In addition, Mr. Farrell also wants to keep student tuition at a "manageable" level, retain quality faculty and staff, and increase access to the university. "The key is to develop a better understanding and better partnership between the university and Legislature and the people within the state," Farrell said. "It has weakened a little bit … but we need to be strong partners." Strengthening relations will be very important for the success of Mr. Farrell.
With four days as provost under his belt at this point, Mr. Farrell has begun on his journey as UW-Madison's provost. Hopefully, all of his goals will be achieved and more accomplishments will be added to his list. He said that he feels being given the position is "quite an honor, it's a big responsibility, and, at the same time, it's a little frightening." Well Mr. Farrell, don't be scared, good luck, and let's see what you can do.
Joelle Parks ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism.
