Marc M. Roy: Making History as Goucher’s First Provost and Chief Academic Officer

Release date: May 14, 2008 |

Nearly a year has passed since Marc M. Roy became the first person in Goucher College’s history to be named provost and chief academic officer.

Since then, he has drawn on his experiences as a neurobiology professor and an administrator to build upon the curriculum changes laid out in Goucher’s Strategic Plan, which was adopted in 2002. Now, he talks to the Quarterly about his first impressions of Goucher, plans for the college’s curriculum, and life with five children.

Since you are Goucher’s first provost, could you describe what the job entails?
A provost’s role really depends upon the size of the school and its needs. Here, my duties are largely to provide oversight and leadership for the academic realm, which includes the faculty, the library, the registrar’s office, institutional research, the office of study abroad, international study--all of the units that are closely related to the curriculum.

When you arrived at Goucher, what were your first steps?
It was very important to me to get to know as many people as possible.  I have been meeting with each of the academic departments to talk about what they do well, what their goals are, and how we might be able to help facilitate those.

As your first year at Goucher draws to an end, what changes have you overseen or made?
A lot of things have happened in small ways. We’ve made progress implementing a faculty growth plan drawn up by [President Sandy Ungar] and Michael Curry [Goucher theatre professor and former vice president and dean of faculty] that described adding a number of tenure-track positions over the next several years.

We are currently looking for two new faculty members to join us, in creative writing and religious studies.

What other changes would you like to see?
There is certainly work to be done to enhance diversity--not just in faculty and staff and students, but throughout the curriculum in terms of what courses we are offering and how they address issues of multiculturalism.

We need to develop [more] opportunities for students to take courses that deal with ecological sustainability in some way.

And we are beginning to develop some study-abroad opportunities that have an ecological component to them or that in some way explore aspects of diversity.

Can you give some examples of opportunities to study abroad that incorporate an environmental studies component?
Yes, Cynthia Kicklighter, assistant professor of biology, and Theresa Hodge, senior lab instructor in January led an intensive course abroad in Honduras that focused on environmental issues. And we’ve just signed an agreement with the Monteverde Institute in the Tilaran mountain range in Costa Rica, an incredibly ecologically rich area that has already felt a significant impact from global climate change. Our students will be able to spend a semester there studying not only ecology and ecological issues, but also cultural issues and language.

Are you looking into any other new study-abroad opportunities?
I think that East Asia is an area we need to look at carefully. In my former job, I had some experience in setting up a relationship with a university in China. And already Steve DeCaroli [assistant professor of philosophy and religion] has done a three-week course in China that has been very successful in moving forward the opportunities there for students.

Are you thinking about making any changes in the courses or majors offered?
I’d love to see Goucher develop a major in environmental studies and offer expertise in environmental areas. In February, we announced the hiring of our first visiting professor of environmental studies, Ariane de Bremond. And in the fall we will be conducting a search for an economist with expertise in environmental economics.

What made you decide to switch from being a biology professor to being an administrator?
I consider myself an accidental administrator.  If you would have told me in my early years of teaching that I would be an administrator, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy.’

But a new dean came to the college [Beloit College in Beloit, WI], and he asked me to serve as the associate dean. I was at first reluctant and then realized that it would give me a chance to do in a very different way something that I value, which is continuing to learn.

How do you describe your administrative style?
I tend to be fairly low-key. I do my very best in whatever I’m doing, and I expect that others will, too.  I believe that you hire really good people and stand back and let them do their jobs with guidance, but not a lot of interference.

You and your wife, psychologist Joan Wilterdink, have been foster parents for years. Could you talk a little about that experience?
We actually started that in Wisconsin and continued being foster parents almost exclusively with infants when we were in Iowa.

Over the years, we were foster parents for about 10 infants, some of them short term, and some of them went to about a year. We did adopt two little girls. We really never got into foster care with the intention of adopting, but they’re such wonderful little girls.

You also have three biological children. What are the ages of your five children?
Our oldest son is 19, a freshman in college [Franklin & Marshall College]. Our next son is 17, a junior in high school. A third son is 14 and in eighth grade, and we have two little girls who are three and five.

Are you aware that many parents would be awed by the idea of caring for foster children while raising three biological children?
No, many people do this. I think we just don’t recognize it very often. We have, over the years since we’ve been doing this, gotten to know many people who have been foster parents or who have adopted children.

For us, it just felt like the right thing to do, and I guess it’s part of the broader sense that we have that in one way or another, most people find ways to give back to the community. This was something we felt we can do--and then to have two little girls come into our lives?  We feel lucky having them.

In your capacity as provost, if you were granted three wishes (and if money were no object), what would you wish for Goucher?
We have an enormous space crunch. We need classroom space, faculty offices, student housing. I would ask for space, all kinds of space, in and out of the classroom.

Likewise, there are staffing needs in the academic realm and other realms. I would ask for additional staff.

And though the faculty-growth plan will address some faculty needs, I would like to increase the number of tenure-line faculty.

At a Glance

Who: Marc M. Roy
Title: Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Goucher College
Previous Job: Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the Faculty, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA
Education: BA in biology, Lawrence University; PhD in neuroscience, University of Wisconsin