Interim provost Reichard reflects on her time at Saint Joseph’s
“I’m certainly very ready to go back to my retirement,” said Interim Provost Rosalind Reichard, about her imminent departure from her position as chief academic officer of Saint Joseph’s University.
Reichard, who became interim provost in June of 2014, is expected to leave at the end of this academic year once a permanent provost is chosen.
Reichard said that when she accepted the position of interim provost, she was already retired, but she chose to come back to academia because of the institutional values that St. Joe’s embodies.
“It’s a wonderful school, and I was retired, and they needed some help,” Reichard said. “I really believe strongly in institutions like this one with a religious affiliation of some sort. I think that gives it a strength and a focus on serving the community that I really, really appreciate, [and] our way of working so closely with students.”
Reichard, who has strong past experience with university administration, believes she was originally chosen for her work with faculty and university governance. Before arriving at St. Joe’s, Reich- ard was the president at Emory and Henry College in Virginia, and the provost at Meredith College in North Carolina. She was also an academic dean at Elon University in North Carolina.
Reichard arrived at St. Joe’s during a time of confusion and unrest for the university, and said she knew she had work to accomplish while here.
“It was pretty clear when I came on campus what I was needing to do,” said Reichard. “[But] I think we have made great progress, we now have a new president. [But] there’s still always work to do, there’s no question about it, and especially on communication and governance because that was the real shakiness,” she said.
“It takes time to rebuild trust fully, which is what that’s all about but…I think people are very optimistic,” she continued.
Ann Green, professor of English and president of the university senate, spoke on the great assistance Reichard has provided the university.
“She’s come in and she’s helped us fix some things that needed to be addressed,” Green said. “[And] I’ve been personally grateful that she’s brought years of experience both as a president and a provost elsewhere to the job.”
Reichard said that not being embroiled in the university helped when first starting her job.
“I was looking at it objectively,” she said. “I’ve also visited a lot of colleges and seen their work with finances and their practices with communication and government, and I could bring that to the conversation.”
Reichard is not directly involved with the search process for the new provost, but she explained that her position is responsible for all student and academic programs.
“It’s the heart of the academic institution…and I think finding the right person is a key to the success of the institution,” she said.
She also urged students to get involved with the search process, as the new provost will have a direct role in the lives of students both inside and outside of the classroom. “I hope that students will go to whatever forums they might have, especially when they get down to the candidates, because the impact that the provost has on student experience is enormous and it needs to be someone that relates well to students,” Reichard said.
Reichard said that she will miss her colleagues and the daily thrill of academia, but that she is ready to return to her permanent home in Virginia and focus on other things.
“I want to travel and of course, I have grandchildren and they’re little… so I want to focus on spending time with them,” she said.
And would she take on a position like this again?
“I don’t know,” she said. “It would have to be something like this in the sense that it just resonated,” said Reichard. “So I don’t think so, but if somebody like St. Joe’s calls me and I believe in [the] mission and they seem to really need my assistance and I can contribute, it would be hard to say no to something like that. But right now, I’m ready to retire.”