Ever since Joseph Weixlmann stepped down from the position of provost for personal reasons, Saint Louis University has had an interim provost. Manoj Patankar, who also serves as the dean of Parks College of Engineering, Aviation & Technology, has served as the interim provost since Aug. 1.
Weixlmann had held the office of provost since March 2003, and left during the summer of 2009, after asking President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., for a two-month administrative leave with a plan to return in some capacity at the end of September. However, Weixlmann has not yet returned.
“[Weixlmann] is not coming back in this role of provost…and for now I will continue this position as interim-academic provost,” Patankar said.
All requests for an interview with Weixlmann went unanswered.
The provost at SLU handles enrollment management and academic services along with reporting back to the president on the University’s standings in academics, service and research. However, a recent message to the SLU community from Biondi announced that the position of provost would be discontinued, with two chief academic vice presidents taking its place.
“Because strategic planning should be an overriding focus, and because of the academic administration changes that have already been made at the Medical Center, the title of Provost is no longer essential to the strategic functioning of the University,” Biondi wrote.
“This would be a better option and it is very similar to one that we had a while ago, with multiple vice presidents handling the situation…it honestly is a lot of work for a single person,” Patankar said.
“With several people, it is easier to do a more efficient and effective job.”
Biondi said in his message that the move would ideally allow the Administration to hear more voices and to take more effective action on issues.
Medical School Dean Philip Alderson will simultaneously serve as vice president of Health Sciences, while Patankar will serve as the interim-academic vice president for the Frost campus until a search committee is formed to find someone to fill the position permanently.
The academic vice president of the Frost campus will be the chief academic officer for all colleges and schools on the Frost campus, and as such, the deans of those colleges and schools will report to him.
Enrollment management also will report to the academic vice president of the Frost campus.