Message From the Provost: Fall 2016
Building the Academic Enterprise Together
I am honored and excited to join Stevens Institute of Technology as Provost and as a member of the faculty.
Stevens is a dynamic institution with a tremendous legacy of excellence in teaching, research and innovation, and it has a bright future under the leadership of President Nariman Farvardin. I was attracted to Stevens because of its core emphasis on technological innovation, its pervasive culture of excellence and its central commitment to the development and education of students. Stevens is in a unique position to exert global leadership in addressing complex technical and societal problems, and I am eager to work in partnership with the entire faculty and the academic and administrative leadership to help further realize this compelling vision.
I am especially honored to have been selected to represent Stevens' distinguished faculty as the university’s academic leader. And I am particularly grateful to Provost George Korfiatis, who worked diligently for the past nine years to build a strong academic enterprise that is poised for continued achievement.
As Provost, I pledge to uphold Stevens’ academic values and to work with the university community to drive this institution forward and build its stature and reputation. The goals, priorities and benchmarks outlined in the Stevens strategic plan will be our roadmap. With technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and excellence in all we do as core values, we will work together to address critical challenges through scholarship and research and by inspiring creativity and achievement in our students.
The most serious of these challenges span both technological and human concerns, requiring a broad vision that encompasses a range of disciplines, including the liberal arts, business and the STEM fields. This interdisciplinary approach to confronting and solving real-world problems distinguishes Stevens and its faculty, and together, we will build on our strengths and expand our capabilities and influence.
To achieve this, we will focus on recruiting, nurturing and retaining talented and diverse faculty – both tenure- and non-tenure-track; on delivering high-quality undergraduate education to the next generation of leaders; on growing our research enterprise and our innovation footprint; on expanding professional and research-oriented graduate programs; and on achieving local and global impact through strategic partnerships, international reach and branding.
At the same time, we will strive to strengthen our culture of high academic standards, collaboration and transparency. We will work with the administration to align financial, human and physical resources with academic priorities; to provide incentives that spark initiative, agility, growth and thoughtful risk-taking; and to reward achievement while fostering accountability.
The faculty is the foundation of the university. With the entire team in the Office of the Provost, I look forward to working with our deans and department directors to empower faculty members to thrive as teachers, researchers, scholars and entrepreneurs and to be recognized as such, for the benefit of our students and the institution.
Over the next few months, I plan to visit every academic department and research center at Stevens to learn about what you do and to seek your input about our strengths, challenges and opportunities. I expect these visits to help us define, collectively, the strategic objectives and tactical goals for the academic enterprise.
Stevens’ future is promising indeed, and I am eager to get to work. I look forward to meeting you all.
Sincerely,
Christophe Pierre
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs