Chosen Texas A&M’s new provost during the summer, Carol A. Fierke started her time in office this semester with a specific set of goals and the experience needed to meet them.
A renowned biochemist, Fierke was part of the faculty at Duke University before moving to the University of Michigan in 1999. During her time at the University of Michigan, Fierke was recognized for her improvements to education and campus environment. An active contributor to the University of Michigan’s ADVANCE program for highlighting diversity and excellence, Fierke received the 2016 American Chemical Society’s National Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences.
Interim Provost Douglas Palmer has worked closely with Fierke since the beginning of his time in office on June 19.
Palmer and Fierke were in consistent contact during Palmer’s term as interim provost. Fierke said she believes the office’s coordination between provosts was handed very well.
“I would say he was chosen because he is an outstanding leader at Texas A&M who is very knowledgeable and did an incredible job in a very difficult situation,” Fierke said.
Palmer said she has the leadership skills to propel the university toward the future they hope to see.
“I fully see that Dr. Fierke is going to continue to facilitate that and even maybe accelerate the kind of activity that’s going to have us be recognized throughout the campus in all areas really as an important state, national and international leader,” Palmer said. “It’s the pursuit of excellence, it’s the pursuit of programs that are going to result in the development of future leaders who are graduates of our programs and are also going to be developing new knowledge that’s going to have an impact.”
Palmer was brought into his short term position after the removal of former provost Karan Watson. Palmer said he was called in the day before he was to start the job, making his transition into office somewhat abrupt.
“It was a very busy time. Of course, I have to say, it’s a very busy job,” Palmer said. “You’re head of all academic operations across the campus, so that’s all of the colleges. Even in the summertime there’s a lot that’s going on, so I was very busy. In many ways it was also very familiar. I’ve been a dean here for almost 10 years, I knew a lot of people in this office, in the President’s office the deans and so forth.”
After completing his time as interim provost by helping guide the transition of powers, Palmer plans on returning to the faculty.
“My role now is essentially to be an advisor to Dr. Fierke,” Palmer said. “First of all, there’s a lot of time Dr. Fierke is going to spend learning about the campus and people, which speaks very well for a leadership style to focus in on who the people are and what’s going on and so forth, but I am essentially to help her in this transition for this time period, and then the plan after this is to go back to the faculty, education psychology.”
Fierke said she is working to learn as much about the university as possible, so she can excel in her new office.
“My goal for this semester was really information gathering, to understand what’s here, how are things done,” Fierke said. “I am spending a half a day in each of the schools, where I’ve met with the leadership of the school. I then spend some time meeting with either specific faculty or seeing resources that the school has, and then I have a faculty forum where I hear from the faculty about what’s going well, what their concerns are and they can also ask me questions.”
Fierke said she aims to not only support students in the university system from the academic side, but also hopes to see their incorporation of learning outside of the classroom.
“My office is really focusing on the academic side of the university, support of students, support of faculty, but support of students more in their scholarship and research and academic pursuit, not so much on the student life side of it,” Fierke said. “On the other hand, cocurricular and extracurricular are really important parts of your education on campus so we coordinate with student life in terms of making sure that students have the support on that side as well.”
One of the many goals Fierke has is to facilitate research collaboration across fields — breaking down the barriers between departments to enhance the knowledge found through the institution’s researchers.
“That’s one of the things I’ve heard from the faculty here, that they feel that we’re too siloed,” Fierke said. “So [the office is] particularly trying to figure out how to break down those silos and help faculty find each other and collaborate.”
The Office of the Provost is working strategically to improve the university academically as a whole, focusing on what should be improved as well as what is going well, according to Fierke.
As Fierke continues to learn about the university from an academic side, she has also started to learn about the Aggie Spirit and traditions, such as the core values, Midnight Yell and Muster.
“Certainly the Aggie traditions are unique to Texas A&M,” Fierke said. “I would say Michigan was a place that was value driven, although I think it’s even stronger, that sense of values, at Texas A&M than even at Michigan.”