New provost fields wide range of questions in interview

Pam Benoit started her term as executive vice president and provost of Ohio University on July 1. She moved here from the University of Missouri, where she was vice provost for advanced studies and dean of the graduate school.

A little over one month into the job, she sat down Monday with the Athens NEWS to discuss everything from her favorite restaurants in Athens to budget cuts to the quarters-to-semesters transition, and everything in between.

So far, what has struck you most about the university and Athens?

Several things. One is that there are a lot of interesting programs here. I've learned a lot about the academic community and learned that the faculty are very engaged with students. I've learned that there are wonderful first-year programs. I've learned a lot about the Nationally Competitive Awards Program. I've been visiting with the deans, and so I've gotten a nice overview of the programs at all of the different colleges, and that's been a really good experience.

One of the nice things I've done is that I've gone to each of the dean's offices around the campus so that's been a nice way for me to begin to know the campus. When you come from another place, the campus can be a little overwhelming at the beginning. You're trying to learn where all the greens are - you probably saw I did a campus tour at the beginning so I got a little oriented at the beginning but now it's helped to say, "OK, I've been to that building, and I know what's in that building, and I've been to that building, and I know what's located in that building." I've walked around a lot more.

I've done the new student orientation for a couple weeks now so I get to talk to new parents and new students as they're coming in the door and welcome them and talk to them about why they're coming to the university, so that's been really exciting as well.

It's a very welcoming environment; it's a very unique institution. It's a beautiful campus. All of those have been really wonderful experiences. And then the Athens community is great as well. I've been to the Athens Farmers Market; I've been to O'Betty's; I just went to the Lancaster Music Festival. I went to see (OVST's) "Oliver" with the Alumni Association on Friday. I'm trying to soak in the culture of Athens and the culture of the campus.

Have you developed any favorite restaurants?

I already like several restaurants in town. I've been to Salaam; that's a wonderful place. I usually like O'Betty's. I think O'Betty's is pretty cool. I tried to tell my daughter about it but I didn't have my iPhone with me so I wasn't able to take a picture. I was trying to tell her about the mermaid women with the trident with the hot dog, and I couldn't quite convey it right, so next time she visits I'll have to take her.

What's your educational background?

I went to Ball State in Muncie, Ind., and got my bachelor's degree in speech communication with a minor in English, and then I went to Central Michigan for my master's degree in communication, and then I went to Wayne State University for my Ph.D. in communication.

What was your research in?

My dissertation is on coherence production devices in preschool children's discourse.

How did that lead to this career?

I never once thought I would have ended up doing this. I was very happy doing my research; I was very happy teaching. I have teaching awards. I thought I would be a faculty member for my whole career. What happened was that I had faculty members come to me and ask me to be chair of the department. I always said I was not interested in being chair, and then they came to me a couple times and asked me to reconsider, and so I said yes, and I found that I liked it. And that's what made me go on that track.

Is the size of Athens a challenge for you?

I lived in Oxford, Ohio, and I lived in Detroit. Some people asked me when I came, "Can you live in Athens, Ohio? And I couldn't figure out where that question was coming from.

What have you been doing in your free time?

I've been unpacking my house. I have a wonderful house, and I'm trying to get that in order.

You've had a lot of meetings with President Roderick McDavis. Are you two on the same track with everything?

I don't know that anybody is ever on the same track with every single issue. I think we have very compatible views on most topics. I'd say that that's true with many of the people I've met so far. I've had really good interactions with the people that I've had the opportunity to meet with so far.

After being here for a month, you've surely heard a lot about Vision Ohio. How well versed are you in Vision Ohio and how comfortable are you working with it?

I've had several meetings talking about Vision Ohio and where it's going. I read a lot about Vision Ohio before I even came for the interview. I feel like I know a lot about that plan. It's a huge plan, and there's a lot in the plan.

One thing I think is very important with the plan is trying to figure out what are the priorities in the plan. How do you move forward on the things that are most central to the plan, and what are then going to be the things you are going to invest in in Vision Ohio? That's the real challenge, and with the budget situation we can't do everything. We can't do everything that's in the plan, even though I really resonate with the plan. There are wonderful goals and objectives in the plan. I think it is terrific that the institution has had a lot of discussions about what they think are important and has come up with a strategic plan.

A lot of times when you look at other institutions, they will have a vision statement and a mission statement, but they will have no real plan. Vision Ohio really is an attempt by this institution to say, "Here is where we want to go, here is where we want to go in five years." Now, there have been some difficulties because of the budget situation about achieving all the goals in the plan, but I think now the discussion is going to be how do we figure out what are the most important priorities to accomplish in the plan, and where do we put what resources we have into the plan to try to accomplish those priorities.

Can you choose any specific priorities right now for this university?

One of the things I think is important is that I listen a lot to what people are telling me about this institution and the culture of this institution, and so I have begun to have the kind of conversations where I ask people what the priorities are. I've looked at what kinds of investments have already been made in Vision Ohio because that says something about the institutional priorities as well. So I'm still listening.

There are obviously things about this institution that have suggested certain kinds of priorities, for example, investing in undergraduate education and the enrollment and retention of students. That obviously has to be one of the priorities. There are some things that seem pretty obvious to me.

When you think about that, you also think about how important first year experiences are to making sure that there are going to be good experiences for students. So some of those kind of things immediately come to the forum, and so I think it is really important that we continue to have conversations about what other kinds of issues are going to come to the floor, and so if you look at the major objectives for Vision Ohio, out of each one of those categories there are lots of sub-objective, so which of those kind of objectives are going to be most important for the institution to try and accomplish?

Trying to have a plan for marketing the institution is also incredibly important. How do we get other people to know about us in terms of recruiting students into the institution? That's also important.

What have you heard about the conflicts the faculty have had in the past with the former executive vice president and provost?

I obviously read about that and when I came for the interview, it was apparent that there had been tension between the faculty and a number of administrators before, so I was aware of that. There were questions that were asked at different phases of the interview that suggested that there had been some tension.

One of the things that is an advantage of being new is being able to start on a fresh page, so I will work really hard to open those lines of communication.

Do you have any plans on how to open up lines of communication?

I've already started doing that. I've already met with the chair of the Faculty Senate a couple times. I've already talked about ways to reach out to faculty to try to engage faculty in issues. One of the things I'm planning on doing is listening a lot.

The other thing that's really important I think is to remember that isn't something that one person can do. It's something that requires cooperation on behalf of all the parties involved. So I will try and do what I can but I need help. I will need to count on other parties to help in that process as well.

Have you talked to any faculty union organizers on campus?

I have an appointment with the president of the AAUP but that hasn't happened yet. It's on my agenda.

Have you ever worked on a unionized campus before?

No, I have not, but I will say that I'm on the board of trustees on a campus that is unionized (Goddard College), and I've been a member of a union before. When I was in school, I was actually on a picket line before... I worked for the telephone company, so I was a member of the Communication Workers of America for a short time.

How do you see the budget cuts affecting academics next year? Could there be larger class sizes and more graduate students teaching courses?

I think it is a little too early to tell. I don't know about next year. I think next year is the year for planning. I think the following year is where we are more likely to feel it.

If you look at the state budget, most of the budget cuts are in the second year of the biennium. We'll start to pull back in anticipation of the second year, but the really large budget cuts are back-loaded into the second year.

There are lots of ways in which budget cuts will have an impact. One is by really facilitating more conversations about ways to increase revenues for an institution, ways to start to do cuts, and so there will be conversations about, are there strategic places where you can increase the size of a class? are there places where we need to think about different delivery modes for a particular classroom? But you're also trying to think about tradeoffs in terms of quality. You want to try to reduce the effects on quality as much as possible because you want to maintain a really good education for the students who are coming. So you need to think about the places where you can increase efficiency and not have a detrimental effect on quality.

I was a dean of graduate studies before I came here, and one of the things I found is that many of our graduate students were terrific teachers, so even when we put graduate students in classrooms, it doesn't mean a negative effect on quality.

What do you see as the major challenge for the next year?

Budget, budget, budget. I think those are huge issues, and I think the other thing to think about is that the budget situation really needs to cause us to think about how do we transform the institution so that we can continue to be the kind of institution we want to be, a quality institution, and yet deal with the very difficult economic times that are coming our way. That requires all of us to be engaged in the conversation ¸ making the really hard choices that are coming.

OU has made a lot of cuts in terms of both classified and administrative staff. Can the university continue in the direction of being a quality institution while making those cuts?

Everything needs to be on the table.

A lot of criticism when it comes to classified layoffs is that top administrators are still making huge salaries. What do you know about executive salaries and how do you feel about the executive pay here at OU?

I haven't seen the list of salaries, but I did see one report that looked at salaries across the institution that were the top salaries at the institution. But I haven't seen enough information to comment.

I do think it's important that we're held accountable on all fronts; whether its administrative salaries or other kinds of issues, all of those things need to be taken into account.

With the university's state funding formula changing to a more outcome-based system, are you concerned about the effects on OU's funding?

I think that we need to pay attention to it. We need to understand exactly what that means in terms of our funding. We need to make sure that we're addressing those issues. We are very much aware.

One of the big pieces of the funding formula is enrollment, so we've already started to have some conversations about what that should mean in terms of our own enrollment. What is the right size for this institution? Should we be growing? What is the impact of enrollment growth in terms of quality of education and access? But if the funding formula is driven in large part by enrollment, do we need to be rethinking strategies in terms of enrollment? So we are paying very careful attention to the funding formula.

There is the possibility of a tuition increase for next year. How are you preparing for that, even from the public-relations side of the provost's office?

Well, the announcement's been made that in the fall there will not be a tuition increase. There's still a lot of discussion about what will happen in the winter and spring quarters. Whatever the decision is that's made, there will need to be really good communication with both students and parents about tuition increases.

Again there's a trade-off. There are real issues about balancing the budget. Tuition is one of the primary sources of revenue for Ohio University, but there are also access issues, particularly for students who are at the highest level of need, and those students need to be considered as well.

Is there anything you are really looking forward to next year?

All of it is exciting. This is a great job and a great institution. I'm looking forward to working with faculty and doing some important problem solving. This is a time when there's a lot of really tough issues that are coming ahead, and I hope that I have the kind of skills to help the institution and to be able to be of some service.

What skills do you bring to the table?

I come from a communication background. I talked earlier about the importance of listening and being able to open up communication channels. I think I know something about that. I also have mediation training in my background. Given the amount of that that has occurred here before, my background in conflict resolution and mediation will be of some use. Given that there are difficult decisions ahead, I'm hoping that the background that I've got in working with people and knowing something about how groups work and knowing something about persuasion will come in handy here.

There has been some criticism from faculty members regarding administrative careerists governing the university. Do you see yourself as an administrative careerist, or how strongly are you connected to your faculty background?

I have very, very strong faculty roots. I spent 25 years at the University of Missouri, and most of that time was as a faculty member. I know I'm not supposed to mention this, but I spent some time at Miami of Ohio and at Bowling Green, and I was a faculty member at both of those institutions. I was a chair of a department, then I became a dean, so I haven't forgotten what it is like to be a faculty member. My husband is a faculty member, and he reminds me on a pretty regular basis if I don't remember, but I do remember. It's not like I've forgotten what that's like.

What kind of interactions have you had with students?

I've already done new student orientation. I'll be at the convocation. I plan on being out and about with students. I am talking with (Vice President for Student Affairs) Kent Smith to talk about ways in which I can interact more with students. We'll be doing a lot more of interacting with students.

Has your office talked much to Hocking College?

Actually, we have some agreements with Hocking so that's how I know them most. There's a new president and a new provost, so there's going to be a meeting soon with the new president, and I'm going to be able to meet him. I sent him a congratulatory letter when he was appointed.

There's a push to bring people from community colleges to OU. Have you been working with that?

I think it is really important to establish that kind of relationship and to do more collaboration. So we'll be working on that.

How will you collaborate with Hocking College?

There are lots of ways. Shared services are one of the things that we're working on. Things that we have in common that we do like computer services and human resources, we partner to accomplish things more efficiently.

The other thing that we can do that I think is really important is establishing pipelines. Are there students that are interested in transferring from community colleges to here after they finish their associate's degree? How can we make that as seamless as possible?

Have you ever worked at a university during a quarters-to-semesters system?

Not from quarters to semesters. Obviously I have been through other kinds of transitions. For example, one of the big transitions that I have been through is the transition to People Soft "“ the IT program.

Have you worked in quarters before? Any preference?

I've worked in both. I loved semesters, actually. There are advantages to both, but I'm really excited about the transition to semesters. I think it is a wonderful opportunity to reconceptualize the curriculum, to really rethink about where you think the curriculum might be rethought, how you might rethink courses, how you might think about how courses go together within programs, and this is a nice chance to do that.

The (Ohio) chancellor (Eric Fingerhut) is very interested in moving all institutions in Ohio, so I think we are obviously doing really good work.

How do you feel about the University System of Ohio?

I worked in another system, so I have a lot of familiarity about how systems work. The University of Missouri is a system itself. It has four institutions that are part of its system, with discussions about others that might possibly join.