Welcome to the Provost's Blog at George Mason University. This is the official blog of Dr. Peter N. Stearns and it is a forum for insight, a look behind the scenes at the university and thoughtful discussion.
The Provost serves as a member of the President’s Executive Council and as senior staff to the Board of Visitor’s Faculty and Academic Standards Committee. The Provost oversees two Vice-Provosts, the Deans of nine colleges and schools, the directors of one academic institute, selected special support programs, and research and outreach centers.
In the accomplishment of these duties, the Provost serves as Chief Academic Officer, with special attention to areas such as curriculum and faculty recruitment and evaluations. As part of the senior management team for the university, the Provost works with deans and directors on strategic issues. In this role, he provides academic leadership and vision, and develops academic policy recommendations.
Contact: Provost Stearns, Phone: 703-993-8776
Changing the World
This is an adaptation of some brief graduation remarks I recently offered, so meant to be in the spirit of the season. I watch a good bit of college basketball, and in the process see a lot of university ads. They’re mostly fairly awful, and it would be a service to have a good faith ...
Good Things
Ends of semester are always a bit tense, particularly in the spring. People are tired, a subset of students (and others) get weird, it’s obviously past time for a break. This spring, we probably have even more distractions than usual, including a constrained budget situation and some clear challenges in the coming year. But—and this ...
When It’s Time to Leave Academic Administration
What follows involves a delicate topic, probably insufficiently discussed because of its delicacy. But this issue deserves airing, and ultimately some wider discussion toward informal guidelines. I’ve had occasion, as a dean and now provost, at two different institutions, to watch the complex dance of administrator departure. The phenomenon is complicated enough to warrant some ...
Inclusiveness
As many of my readers know, we have a new strategic vision for the University that includes a number of interesting elements. One feature, which I’ve written about before, implies a commitment to growth which we’re now trying to translate into more specific strategic planning. A related feature involves inclusiveness. Our President notes publicly that ...
Challenge and Opportunity in the Global Agenda
I’ve written before about the uphill aspect of expanding global goals in American higher education: the fact that U.S. faculty are less enthusiastic about global agendas than counterparts elsewhere, the lack of any formal government pressure or encouragement (again, a marked contrast to the situation in China, Russia and elsewhere). Elements of the situation are ...
Teaching Oversight
A talented colleague has raised an interesting issue, and since he did it publicly I don’t think it’s inappropriate to comment. Mills Kelly, in our History Department, has twice offered a course that involves students preparing a plausible public hoax and disseminating it (Wikipedia, etc.) for 10 days, after which it is explicitly disavowed. The ...
Visiting Pakistan
Returned recently from Pakistan, mainly visiting the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad. This is an impressive new university, of high quality and high ambition, and Mason has various collaborative projects with them and prospects for more in future—including some joint educational and research efforts on Pakistani-American relations. My reason for blogging is ...
Recent Posts
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Changing the World
This is an adaptation of some brief graduation remarks I recently offered,...
-
Good Things
Ends of semester are always a bit tense, particularly in the spring....
-
When It's Time to Leave Academic Administration
What follows involves a delicate topic, probably insufficiently discussed because of its...
-
Inclusiveness
As many of my readers know, we have a new strategic vision...
-
Challenge and Opportunity in the Global Agenda
I've written before about the uphill aspect of expanding global goals in...
-
Teaching Oversight
A talented colleague has raised an interesting issue, and since he did...
-
Visiting Pakistan
Returned recently from Pakistan, mainly visiting the National University of Science and Technology...
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