Thursday, March 28, 2024

MSU officials talk provost vacancy during Steering Committee

January 8, 2013

The Steering Committee, a group of administrators and campus and faculty committee leaders, met Tuesday to discuss procedural and academic happenings at MSU.

Replacing the provost

With Provost Kim Wilcox’s recent announcement of his resignation in July, the committee discussed methods replacing him.

President Lou Anna K. Simon suggested forming a committee to discuss the process of finding a new provost for the university. The members of the committee have yet to be chosen, and the people who will be involved in finding Wilcox’s replacement also have not been decided.

International understanding

The University Committee on Faculty Affairs, or UCFA, is in the process of creating a survey of faculty members who currently teach international students.

The survey comes after committee members raised concerns about the increasing MSU international student population. The committee discussed how the survey might identify issues faculty face teaching these students.

The UCFA hopes the survey will help professors become better teachers and develop more effective methods for teaching students with varying cultural backgrounds.

Many faculty members cited issues with communicating with these students because of language barriers and cultural differences. Others cited benefits to having an increased international student population, including incorporating cultural differences into discussions and appreciating a various perspectives in class.

The final draft of the survey has yet to be completed but should be finalized toward the end of January.

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

Discussion

Share and discuss “MSU officials talk provost vacancy during Steering Committee” on social media.