After serving as interim provost since August, Greene officially takes over as provost
Tom Greene (Photo courtesy of up.edu)
By Laura Frazier, News Editor frazier13@up.edu
Tom Greene, an education professor and former dean of the Graduate School, was appointed provost after serving as interim provost since August 2012.
University President Fr. Bill Beauchamp announced Friday that Greene will take on the role previously filled by Br. Donald Stabrowski, who left UP in September to serve as assistant provincial for the Congregation of Holy Cross.
"It is a pleasure and an honor to have Dr. Greene as provost," Beauchamp said in a press release. "His expertise as an educator, his long and varied experience as an administrator, his excellence and creativity as professor and dean will all serve the University well."
An Oregon native, Greene earned his master's in teaching from Lewis and Clark College and his Doctorate of Education from the University of Oregon and Portland State University. Greene has worked at UP since 1983, and in 2010 was awarded the Culligan Award, the University's highest faculty honor.
As provost, Greene oversees all faculty and academic personnel and programs, among other responsibilities.
"I'm very happy to be serving in this role, and I will do my very best every single day to serve our students and faculty," Greene said.
Greene said he plans to talk with faculty members and students to consider what programs at UP need more development.
"We have a number of programs that I wish were supported more fully," he said. "We need to continue to look at our curriculum and look at what kinds of majors we are offering, and what kinds are going to serve students well."
With the addition of a neuroscience minor last year, Greene said the program could potentially expand and bring a greater awareness of neuroeducation to campus.
Although levels of student debt are increasing nationwide, Greene stands by the value of a private college education, given that most students graduate in four years unlike students at state schools.
Greene also highlighted the importance of faculty and student interaction that is prevalent at small private universities.
"We have an amazing faculty that is not dedicated to anything but our students," he said. "We see some extraordinary acts of support by faculty for students. I don't think that exists at every school."
As a member of the faculty, Greene said he will continue to teach in the School of Education.
"I value it and am constantly reminded in the parts of my job when I'm pushing papers or making decisions, that it is about the students I teach," he said." I don't want to drift away from that."
Greene hopes to continue to build the University and foster the unique attributes of UP students.
"There's an integration of the hand, the heart, the mind," he said. "That is really the thing that causes that UP student to look different."
