As the fall semester arrives, some change is coming with it in South Burlington: University of Vermont President Suresh Garimella will be leaving to become President of the University of Arizona. The college must now seek a new leader. On Monday the UVM Board of Trustees held a special meeting to name an interim president. Board Chair Ron Lumbra tells WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley there are numerous reasons that current provost Patricia Prelock was chosen from a number of candidates:
One of the biggest is we’ve received a lot of feedback from the campus community about the importance of continuity, the importance of continuing the momentum we've built, and staying on the trajectory we're on at the University of Vermont. That includes our journey to increase research, to achieve R-1 status, to improve and expand our continuing education offerings, to focus on cost and the cost of attendance. And Patty has been an integral part of that leadership team as Provost and the board decided that she would be a seamless transition into the interim role because of her familiarity with our strategic direction. Not to mention she is beloved and trusted in the campus community and we thought that people would react very, very positively to her appointment.
Ron, what can she do and not do as an interim University of Vermont president?
Yeah, she'll have the full-fledged role of serving as president and she'll be the decision maker as president and have all the rights of a permanent president. The difference will be many things that a university president takes on are long term in nature. Programmatic. So I would see her continuing the programmatic initiatives that are underway now and marshaling them through, which is one of the reasons she was selected. And I see her being a wonderful decision maker in terms of leading the senior leadership team, leading the institution, setting the tone, working with the campus community. So you'll see all those sorts of things from her as interim. And I think we'll see a very consistent approach with her leadership that we did from President Garimella.
Would the board or interim President Prelock actually put forth any new initiatives while she's serving in that position?
I believe that new initiatives that would come up in an operational fashion could absolutely be put forth and put forth with confidence. I think it would be difficult for an interim to put forward things that would take long term strategic change from the institution. But I wouldn't expect that to be in her remit or what's in her mind anyway. So I don't see any strategic shifts from Provost Prelock, soon to be Interim President Prelock, after she takes the helm. I think we'll have a very consistent, continued execution of the initiatives that are underway.
What sorts of issues will she be facing as interim? The key issues?
Yeah. Before President Garimella announced his move to the University of Arizona, we were all collectively quite concerned what climate could be like on campus this fall. Part of it is the Middle East and Palestine and Gaza. Part of it is the presidential election. If you've been involved with universities, you know every four years there's lots of angst in the community and this is going to be a hard fought election, as you all well know. So we're worried about sort of upset in the campus and Provost Prelock has proved herself phenomenally capable in that area. She's a real relationship builder. She has trust throughout with students, with faculty, with staff. Her ability to lead from the front and build relationships when you have angst on campus is really proven and I think she will serve us very well in that regard. It's a big concern. The second concern, though is we have a very large, complicated enterprise to lead. The financial pressures in higher ed are well known. We have to be very careful about cost control, very careful about what we can and fairly charge our students and their families. We have to pay people fairly. Getting that balance right is very difficult and there are lots of pressures. Inflation being a big one, particular inflation and health care cost Pat, they have really spiked. And it's not just the University of Vermont, but it's throughout the economy, and that hits our bottom line immediately. So there's a lot to do in terms of financial management of the enterprise in the months to come.
Ron Lumbra, Patricia Prelock has been at UVM for quite a few years. Her most recent position has been as provost. So when she is serving as interim president, will she also be serving as provost? How does that work?
Yes, after assuming the role, even in anticipation of that, she will run a process to help select an interim provost and it will almost certainly be someone from within the campus community who is well known, who knows us, who fits our culture. So I anticipate that move to be a smooth one, but it will be a subsequent step.
Nominating or naming Provost Prelock as interim president. Is this basically the beginning of the presidential search?
It is. It was one of the most important first steps in the process. We need a president in place. And candidly, Pat, we didn't need the interim in place until around the first of October, when President Garimella departs for Arizona. However, it was becoming evident to the board that there was some angst in the leadership team wondering what's next, what it means for them, and we felt deferring and delaying that decision was not appropriate. We had such good talent to pick from, including Provost Prelock, we thought we as a board should make a decision, be decisive, announce that decision so people can understand what's happening, quickly get on board and adjust to the change and then be able to move forward without losing momentum. And if there's a mantra that I and the board keeps utilizing, it is that maintaining momentum. Do not take a step back. Do not lose the momentum that we've built at the university and the selection of Provost Prelock really helps us in that regard.
Can provost and incoming interim president Prelock be a candidate for President of UVM?
Yes. Provost Prelock could decide to be asked to be considered for the permanent role. She has not decided to do that for the time being. She's very focused on the interim role and the importance of a smooth transition. But given weeks and a couple months in the role, we will look to find out from her if she wishes to be considered, which it is a possibility. I also expect there to be a couple of other people in the campus community that may wish to be considered and I encourage them to do so.
Prelock’s appointment as interim president of the University of Vermont is effective at the end of September. A search committee for a permanent president will be formed in the upcoming weeks. Garimella became UVM president in 2019.
