Interim provost speaks about his upcoming plans at Student Government Sept. 16

Administrative transparency, the library and the bike share program were the big topics of discussion when Interim Provost John Barrett spoke to Student Government at their Sept. 16 meeting.

Barrett said he is focusing on improving current programs at UT rather than starting new projects.

“In many ways I feel this is not the time to be looking for the next great thing,” Barrett said. “I will be using my time as interim provost to focus on just making everything be happier, work better.”

Barrett said how important having a transparent administration is to him.

“I’m a very blunt individual,” he said. “I think it’s a lot easier to let people know the information they want to know. It’s a lot easier get people to buy in what you’re trying to do, and if you can’t stand up in front of a group of people and support what you’re doing, you shouldn’t be doing it anyway.”

Barrett said he also plans to focus a lot of attention on the Carlson Library.

According to Barrett, Carlson Library is a net borrower in the OhioLink system – that is, it borrows more than it lends out. Barrett said he plans to put “quite a bit of money” into modernizing the library. In order to aid this process, Barrett plans to put together a committee to help decide how to properly update the library.

SG President Clayton Notestine said SG is working with Barrett “on both the 24-hour policy and the second floor renovations, and we’re working on the collections.”

Regarding the bike share program, Barrett said there will be 300-400 quality bikes by the end of the year.

“The price of doing a pretty crummy one … is pretty extreme,” Barrett said. “There’s some new technology coming online; we’re getting a handful of the best products to use and hopefully it works well.”

Another way students can expect to see work from Barrett is through more in-depth student evaluations instead of reviews on websites not affiliated with the university.

“Students need to evaluate faculty and faculty should be held accountable,” SG Vice President Ali Eltatawy said.

He also said he appointed two new assistant provosts, Sammy Spann and Julie Fischer-Kinney, and is looking for graduate assistants.

Fischer-Kinney is the associate dean of YouCollege and Spann is the assistant provost of the Center for International Studies and Programs.