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Sandra Johnson became the university's chief academic officer in May. Grand Connections discussed with Johnson her philosophy of education as she assumes her duties as provost.
GC: What do you see as the most urgent needs for the academic side of Saint Louis University?
Johnson: The most urgent need remains what it always has been: to make the mission of Saint Louis University central to our work. We have an ambitious aspiration in our goal of educating the whole person. Building a university that is both fully enculturated and apart from the culture is challenging. The leading institutions of higher education in the United States are all struggling to justify their doing more than just transmitting information and training students for particular jobs. We have an advantage because our mission gives us a tradition and a guide for responding to these pressures.
Aside from these fundamental issues, we have to improve our infrastructure. We need to respond to growing demands on information technology in teaching and in faculty and student research, for example. We also need to create systems that allow the academic leaders of the University to respond effectively to external conditions that affect our programs. We need to provide more support for research and publication because this University can contribute importantly to new solutions and new insights and because a lively research agenda can enrich the educational experience of our students. We have to be vigilant in keeping teaching central to the identity of this University, and we constantly have to improve the quality of our current faculty by providing opportunities for continued faculty development.
GC: What are the things we can be most proud of right now?
Johnson: Looking only at relatively recent initiatives, the endowed chairs have enhanced the strength of the faculty; the addition of more than a dozen new faculty positions in Arts and Sciences will increase the accessibility to faculty for our undergraduate students; and the highest freshmen-to-sophomore retention rate in our history is an important achievement. We can't discount the contribution of the physical development of our campuses to the overall success of the University. I am also proud of program initiatives in all of the schools and colleges, too numerous to list here, that constantly revitalize the University.
GC: Explain your role as the University provost. How is it different from the old position of academic vice president?
Johnson: The provost is the chief academic officer for the three campuses of the University. The reorganization eliminated a layer of central administration on both the Frost campus and Health Sciences Center: the provost holds the responsibilities of the academic vice president and the academic functions of the vice president for health sciences, as well as the academic administration responsibilities of the previously combined executive vice president/provost office. Another opportunity presented by the reorganization is that the vice presidents (now vice provosts) for student development and mission and ministry report to the provost, allowing us to build better bridges between those areas and the academic units.
GC: There's been a lot of talk in the last several months about a University-wide core curriculum. Where do you stand on this issue? When would you expect any changes to take place?
Johnson: The Task Force on the First-Year Experience, established by Fr. [Michael] Garanzini, devoted more than a year to investigating and reporting on a wide range of issues affecting the experience of our undergraduates. The core curriculum was only one of the areas they considered. At the end of the academic year, Fr. Garanzini appointed a Hearing Committee to assure that the issues addressed by the Task Force would be discussed and considered by the entire University community. These are important questions for Saint Louis University, and I have asked the Hearing Committee to continue the work of focusing attention and discussion on these issues. The committee will report on what it finds, which may include possibilities for modifying the core curriculum. The faculty governance mechanisms charged with overseeing the curricula within the University would then consider these possibilities. We need to clarify how that will occur.
GC: What should faculty and deans know about your leadership style?
Johnson: I begin with confidence in the abilities of our deans and faculty and in their commitment to the well-being of their schools and colleges. I approach problem-solving collaboratively and believe that there is a value in bringing different perspectives to a problem. I appreciate directness and collegiality.
GC: How do you see your partnership role with James Kimmey, M.D., the University's executive vice president?
Johnson: Fr. Biondi has structured this reorganization so that the provost and executive vice president are equal partners in working directly with him to assure that the University achieves the vision he has stated for its future. Jim and I and Fr. Biondi will meet regularly to make sure that we achieve a high level of coordination and collaboration in this new structure.
GC: You accepted this position on an interim basis. How long does that mean? Will a national search be launched?
Johnson: There will be a search process to fill the position of provost on a permanent basis. Because of the scope of this very recent reorganization, it may take somewhat more than one academic year to conduct a successful search.
GC: What is more important -- teaching or research?
Johnson: I have never viewed teaching and research as enemies or rivals. In my own experience as a faculty member here over the last 20 years, I have found that my research made me a better teacher „ more engaged in developments in my field and more sophisticated in what I could bring to the classroom. The students shared an enthusiasm for their own involvement in the projects and for the attention that the research could bring to the school. Of course, that synergy won't happen if teaching is undervalued and neglected. I think Saint Louis University should and can attract faculty who are talented in both teaching and research. I believe that our faculty can respond to that demand, although I understand that each faculty member may strike the balance a bit differently.
GC: Some colleges across the country are moving to eliminate tenure. What is your view on this?
Johnson: I believe that colleges that eliminate tenure will have a difficult time recruiting the best faculty and will develop a faculty that will not make a long-term commitment to the institution „ a faculty that rationally devotes their time only to those things that will make them individually the most attractive to the market of the moment. Of course, tenure can be abused, and that harms everyone. I have little patience for the abuse of tenure. When I think of the value of a tenured faculty to this University, I think of people like Vince Immel, Val Willman, Marjorie Richey and Maurice McNamee (confining myself to the emeriti faculty) whose contributions to this University over the course of an entire career help to make the University what it is today.
GC: Enough "issue" questions. Tell us a little bit more about yourself and your family.
Johnson: This fall my husband and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and attend our 25th reunion of SLU's College of Arts and Sciences. After graduation from SLU, we received our law degrees together from New York University law school three years later. Our first child, Emily, was born during our third year of law school. I went to Yale Law School after that, taught at a law school in New York City, and our second child, Katie, was born. With two kids and two careers, moving back home seemed wise (especially because the grandparents were here). I have taught at the School of Law since then and have had the privilege of having secondary appointments in the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health. I have spent several tours of duty in administration. For fun, I'll be at the Billiken basketball games „ we have had season tickets for several years. Last weekend I saw Mark McGwire hit a half dozen home runs during batting practice without any apparent effort whatsoever and hit a game-winning 11th-inning home run. I'll remember that for quite awhile. We love the theater, too, and subscribe to the Rep and the Opera Theatre. And I am ready to talk about movies and birdwatching at any time.
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