SuppliedSteven Dew never saw himself as a Provost and Vice President (Academic).
But when he realized that his goals were too ambitious at the faculty level, he decided to apply for the position.
“The things that we need to do as a university to be at the next level are broad interdisciplinary large initiatives and being in one faculty is the wrong place to launch and lead those,” Dew, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said.
Getting his start at the University of Alberta, Dew has been the associate dean (research and planning) of the Faculty of Engineering since 1992, his list of duties have always been large. From everything involving academic planning, course development and research initiatives to international relations for the faculty of engineering, Dew has had a lot on his plate in his 23 years.
“It’s a pretty broad category (of duties) but it gave a lot of preparation with what I’ll be doing in the Provost’s office,” Dew said.
The provost and vice president (academic) is a position that covers a lot of ground, which Dew is no stranger to. He will be responsible for institutional planning and administration in all aspects of the academic operations, involving students, academic and support staff, alumni, members of governance committees and staff associations.
Dew will officially come into his position as Provost and VP (Academic) on July 1, 2015. While the list of duties for the position are long, his first task will be working with the rest of the administrative staff on campus to refresh the U of A’s academic plan.
“I think there will be some strong strategic goals that will come from that,” Dew said. “There are certainly things I want to see but it’s from consultation across campus so it’s hard to predict what will happen.”
The academic plan is essentially the blueprint for the functioning of the university. It’s a comprehensive plan for where the university aspires to be in five-years. It sets objectives for what the school wants to be renowned for on local, national and international levels.
“It’s the purpose of the university really,” Dew added.
Joining Dew in office on July 1 will be U of A President-elect David Turpin. Dew has been “pivotal” in the Faculty of Engineering’s growth Turpin said in a press release.
“(Dew) will bring to the provost role a focus on excellence, and an outstanding track record of fostering collaboration and building consensus across the institution and beyond, while successfully leading large multi-stakeholder initiatives,” he said.
Turpin sat on the international search committee with current U of A President Indira Samarasekera. Samarasekera added that Dew played a “critical role” in university committees which focused on research and scholarship, graduate studies, international engagement, academic leadership and information technology.
Dew emphasized that the broad reach of the provost’s position is what drew him to the office.
“The things that really motivated me to apply really stem from building some initiatives that are larger than what you can do at a faculty level.”
While ready to challenge himself with the new position, Dew is also excited to start working with the rest of his staff.
“I’m extremely happy to be in a position to work with some really excellent people who are trying to raise this university.”
