Gee holds first 'Faculty Forum' in fall series

by Skip Anderson

Chancellor E. Gordon Gee and Provost Thomas G. Burish met with the dean and faculty of the Divinity School Oct. 3, in the first of several meetings scheduled with representatives from each school. Gee described the assemblies -- billed as "Faculty Forums" -- as "the continuation of an ongoing conversation" with deans and faculty from the University's 10 schools.

The meetings are designed to facilitate dialogue regarding how the five challenges Gee outlined during the Faculty Assembly might affect the respective schools, and to provide a forum for faculty to provide input and ask questions.

"It is important to know what issues are important to you," Gee said to the 20-plus faculty and administrators gathered in Tillett Lounge. "What are our strengths we can build upon? We're not necessarily talking about money, but we'll have to be able to support our aspirations."

Gee's five challenges are to renew the commitment to the undergraduate experience, to reinvent graduate education, to reintegrate professional education with the intellectual life of the University, to re-examine and restructure economic models, and to renew Vanderbilt's covenant with the community.

"These cannot be ideas that rest on the shelf," he said. "The Provost knows that. The Strategic Planning Committee knows that. And I am committed to achieving the results that will enable us to grow into the intellectual institution we aspire to become."

In stressing the importance of implementing unique approaches to strengthening each school, Gee cited a highly regarded astrophysics program at Colorado University which was established "without a dime of additional funding."

"Often, it's a matter of how we redistribute our resources," he said.

Questions asked ranged from faculty compensation to the cost to attend the Divinity School. Gee acknowledged the similarities in tuition between the Owen Graduate School of Management and the Divinity School, compared to the inequities of the expected salaries upon graduation.

"You're absolutely right," said Gee. "Your graduates often seek careers that are 'worthy of the world,' and we must develop a portfolio to support and address tuition for the Divinity School."

Gee said that fund-raising strategies currently under development will emphasize undergraduate and graduate scholarships, and increase the number of endowed chairs for faculty.

"This is not a finished product," said Gee. "This is an opportunity for you to help us think about the University you'd like to have."

Similar meetings with representatives of the other nine schools are scheduled throughout the months of October and November.