The presidential election is not the only event that will cause a change of leadership for Shippensburg University students. Starting this semester, Darrell Newton, Ph. D., will have his first full-length semester as the school’s new provost and vice president of academic affairs. We wish him luck as he takes the role during a fraught time in both the political and academic worlds.

Newton was selected out of a possible 80 candidates during the spring semester and officially took the reins in July. While the title of provost means different things at different schools, at Shippensburg, the office “provides leadership and maintains direct administrative responsibility for educational programming including curricula, budgeting and academic personnel matters.”

It is not a mystery why Newton was chosen. During the interview process, Newton highlighted previous experiences in a variety of roles in academia, but one bullet point stands out: his time as associate vice chancellor of academic affairs and dean of graduate students at Wisconsin Eau-Claire. 

Shippensburg University lags behind in the technology front, with limited online classes that are primarily available in the summer as the school’s only offerings. This is coupled with declining national college enrollment and a financially turbulent Pennsylvania state university system.  

Improving distanced learning and increasing revenue at the margins is only the beginning of the possible improvements that Newton can bring. One of his first actions should be an audit of degree requirements. Often, universities like to pack in unnecessary requirements that burden students on their path to graduation. This is painfully on display with mathematics and basic foreign language requirements for degrees in fields that do not make use of them. 

Another course of action, one that Newton and the rest of President Charles Patterson's executive management team can start on right away, is showing face and helping students understand the various administrative departments. President Patterson makes it a point to be seen around campus, but how many other of the dozens of leaders can the average student name? Getting out of Old Main other than at annual events like Breakfast Bingo and engaging with students would be a good start. Newton highlighted the need to meet students where they are at in our interview with him on the front page, and we look forward to seeing him act on those goals.

Besides the face-to-face networking, transparency of agenda is key as well. Communication from the upper brass normally only trickles down to students when campus events cause them to. This should change. 

We wish Newton luck. He starts his new job amid political uncertainty that will certainly spill over into academic life. Building collateral and trust with students early will aid him later.

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