RAK Campus Voices Opinion of Provost Stearns

By Connect Mason Asst. News Director Rashad Mulla

The George Mason University Provost Review Committee heard feedback from faculty and staff of the Ras Al Khaimah campus Thursday, May 1 concerning the performance of Provost Peter Stearns.

Speaking via teleconference to committee members in Innovation Hall room 419, RAK representatives had both praise and criticism for Stearns.

RAK faculty spent over 30 minutes lauding praise upon Stearns for his assistance with improving the university’s relationships with surrounding businesses and corporations. Stearns, they said, was a huge reason for the university’s success overseas.

In previous meetings, Fairfax faculty raised concerns that too much of the Provost’s resources were directed to the overseas campus. Some RAK faculty had concerns of their own.

One English professor said the campus has progressed slower than expected academically and facilities-wise. He said Stearns was at fault for the shortcomings in academic policies and improvement.

“Some wrong decisions have been made,” the professor said. “I don’t think we have a very clear policy that was defined…I think we ignore the fact that Ras Al Khaimah is not Fairfax. This campus needs its own identity.”

Review committee members Susan Tolchin, Arun Sood and Gerald Hanweck listened to these and other concerns.

This is the last Townhall meeting before the entire committee meets internally. They will then draft and rewrite a report based on the feedback they’ve heard this semester. They will submit the report to President Alan Merten in June. Merten will have final say regarding Provost Stearns’s future. Stearns is seeking a 5-year extension after 2009, Tolchin said April 21.