Vitality
See also: The Iowa Promise: A Strategic Plan for The University of Iowa, 2005-2010
A great university engenders, and is in turn nourished by, a vibrant intellectual life and community spirit. To create and maintain such an environment, the University must care for the health and welfare of faculty, staff, and students; exercise responsible stewardship of existing resources and actively seek new ones; and protect the foundation of academic freedom, which is essential to the vitality of teaching and research.
As the University's chief academic officer and a key member of the central leadership team, the Provost exercises significant responsibility for seeking new resources and ensuring responsible stewardship of existing ones. The Provost advocates for the needs of the academic enterprise to the various groups that provide the institution with its financial support, and ensures that resources are allocated to the University's highest academic priorities.
The Office of the Provost also oversees faculty issues, including promotion and tenure decisions in all colleges. The Provost therefore has primary responsibility for ensuring that tenure and other guarantees of academic freedom are respected and upheld.
In carrying out this and all of his responsibilities, the Provost is committed to the University's long tradition of shared governance, and works closely with the Faculty Senate and other advisory groups to ensure that faculty, staff, student, and community voices are heard.
"We are a liberal institution, committed to liberal ideals, and we have to show that those ideals, of mutual respect and civility, of fair play and due process, of openness, tolerance, and free speech, are honored not just in the breach but in the daily conduct of our business, in how we treat each other, and in the way we process the most important decisions affecting our work and our institution."
--Executive Vice President and Provost Michael J. Hogan
