Dear Colleagues,

With the recent appointment of Dr. Palazzo to the Provost position President Jackson has done something that the faculty has advocated for some time. She has formally given the Provost the Chief Academic Officer role at Rensselaer. While Rensselaer’s bylaws are ambiguous about this, alternatively assigning this responsibility to both President in one section, and jointly to the President and Provost in another, Dr. Jackson has until now kept the Chief Academic Officer designation a part of the Presidential portfolio.

We believe that by redefining the Provost’s role at Rensselaer the President has taken an important step forward in promoting our university’s evolution to a top tier research university. It is also important to note that by tapping one of our colleagues for the position, she gives recognition to the strong pool of talent that is available at Rensselaer.

With this in mind the Faculty Senate passed the following resolution:

Faculty Senate Resolution
7/13/07

The Faculty Senate applauds the President’s action vesting the Provost’s position with the title and role of Chief Academic Officer at Rensselaer.

We believe that this represents a significant step forward in Rensselaer’s move to join the ranks of elite research universities, and we ask that Rensselaer’s bylaws be amended so as to make this change permanent.

The Faculty Senate congratulates Dr. Robert Palazzo on his appointment to Provost, and looks forward to working closely and productively with him in his newly defined role.



Regards,
Larry Kagan
FS president