Provost candidate discusses mentorship in final open forum
Provost candidate Mary Schutten speaks at an open forum April 26 at the Charles V. Park Library Baber Room.
Provost candidate Mary Schutten visited Central Michigan University on April 26 for the third and final open forum in the ongoing provost search.
Schutten is currently a professor of kinesiology at San Jose State University in California, where she was previously the dean of the College of Health and Human Services from 2015-18.
She discussed her experience with helping San Jose State gain external funding from grants and the different strategies that she implemented.
"Since most federal grants are looking for team-based projects, now it's usually good to incentivize cross-disciplinary work," Schutten said.
Schutten stressed the importance of working to incentivize grants.
Faculty in attendance asked Schutten how she would go about initiating budget cuts.
"We need to look at how things can be done," Schutten said. "It doesn't always work to give everybody the same cut. On the other hand, it may be listening to the constraints to see what the opinions are on the budget."
Schutten said at the universities she has worked at the presidents and provosts have looked to see what the community is a part of and benefits most, which she would also do.
Faculty asked Schutten how she would go about implementing interdisciplinary education.
“If we are interested in student success, students come into the university often without necessarily knowing what their major is, but they may be interested in certain problems that don’t fit in comfortably with one department,” said Cathy Willermet, sociology, anthropology and social work faculty. “Can you talk more about interdisciplinary education, not only for students but also for the faculty that want to do interdisciplinary teaching and research?”
Schutten mentioned the importance of forming a structure for interdisciplinary education.
"You don't necessarily make a new program," Schutten said. "You use existing resources and figure out how to connect them together."
She said she is working on advancing interdisciplinary programs at her current university and would implement the same programs and strategies at CMU.
Schutten pointed out the advantages of peer-mentoring and student tutoring to help increase high retention rates. She said that when students build ownership in the university, they're more likely to stay.
"It seems that you recognize peer mentors as valuable," said management chairperson Luis Perez-Batres. “What other activities do you think differentiate or enhance values for the students?”
Schutten said that she thinks it is important for students to feel involved.
She also discussed how transfer students should be treated differently than freshman, but still just as important.
“I’m not going to do anything without investigating,” Schutten said. “I am really committed to data-driven, people driven.”
Provost candidates Farshad Fotouhi and Wayne Raskind were also brought to campus for open forums this week. The provost search committee will compile a pros and cons list, which will be submitted to President Robert Davies for his consideration.
