Spring Break
Provost hopeful No. 3 visits Western
Marianne Equi
Issue date: 3/26/03 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The most recent provost candidate, Michael Harris, was at Western Illinois University for his campus visit Monday, after last week’s candidate, Joseph Rallo, had to be rescheduled.
Harris’s itinerary included talks with the faculty and community, and a visit with students in the Student Organization Center, where he shared information about himself and answered questions.
Harris, who has served as associate provost and professor at Eastern Michigan University since 2000, said he was interested in the position at Western because there are many similarities between the history and size of the institutions.
“There are great opportunities here with there being a new president; there’s a generation of new ideas, so it’s easy to be excited about that,” Harris said.
At the student meeting, Harris addressed issues that concern universities across the nation, such as budget issues, minority recruitment and grade inflation.
He also told students he was in favor of some form of assessment, and that writing, and especially writing in the discipline, is very important to him.
The students asked how he felt about having foreign language requirement in the general education curriculum. Harris said he didn’t really feel that it was a necessary requirement.
He also said he would be in favor of having “plus” and “minus” as part of the final grading system, as well as having only the better of two grades applies toward GPA when retaking a class.
He also said he was very open to being involved with the students, and Student Government Association. He said now was the time to express concerns and get issues out there, before the provost is chosen.
He began his academic service at Eastern Michigan in 1994 as an assistant and associate professor and served one year as interim department head, and earned awards for outstanding teaching in the political science department.
During 2001, Harris served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Eastern Michigan University, and was previously the undergraduate studies coordinator in the Provost’s Office.
Prior to his service at Eastern Michigan, he was an assistant professor in the graduate program in public policy at Tel-Aviv University.
Harris has published two books, “Public Policy and Electoral Reform: The Case of Israel” and “Term Limits” (co-authored) and has a third book forthcoming. He has also published in a variety of journals, such as “The International Journal of Public Administration,” “Government and Policy,” “Nonprofit Quarterly,” “Utopian Studies,” “Israel Affair”s and “Israel Studies” and has published chapters in several edited volumes.
He acts as a political commentator to a variety of broadcast and print media in the U.S. and Israel.
Harris received his Ph.D. in public policy from Indiana University, his master’s degree from Tel-Aviv University, and his undergraduate degree in economics and business administration from Bar-Ilan University. He is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s management development program.
Harris’s itinerary included talks with the faculty and community, and a visit with students in the Student Organization Center, where he shared information about himself and answered questions.
Harris, who has served as associate provost and professor at Eastern Michigan University since 2000, said he was interested in the position at Western because there are many similarities between the history and size of the institutions.
“There are great opportunities here with there being a new president; there’s a generation of new ideas, so it’s easy to be excited about that,” Harris said.
At the student meeting, Harris addressed issues that concern universities across the nation, such as budget issues, minority recruitment and grade inflation.
He also told students he was in favor of some form of assessment, and that writing, and especially writing in the discipline, is very important to him.
The students asked how he felt about having foreign language requirement in the general education curriculum. Harris said he didn’t really feel that it was a necessary requirement.
He also said he would be in favor of having “plus” and “minus” as part of the final grading system, as well as having only the better of two grades applies toward GPA when retaking a class.
He also said he was very open to being involved with the students, and Student Government Association. He said now was the time to express concerns and get issues out there, before the provost is chosen.
He began his academic service at Eastern Michigan in 1994 as an assistant and associate professor and served one year as interim department head, and earned awards for outstanding teaching in the political science department.
During 2001, Harris served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Eastern Michigan University, and was previously the undergraduate studies coordinator in the Provost’s Office.
Prior to his service at Eastern Michigan, he was an assistant professor in the graduate program in public policy at Tel-Aviv University.
Harris has published two books, “Public Policy and Electoral Reform: The Case of Israel” and “Term Limits” (co-authored) and has a third book forthcoming. He has also published in a variety of journals, such as “The International Journal of Public Administration,” “Government and Policy,” “Nonprofit Quarterly,” “Utopian Studies,” “Israel Affair”s and “Israel Studies” and has published chapters in several edited volumes.
He acts as a political commentator to a variety of broadcast and print media in the U.S. and Israel.
Harris received his Ph.D. in public policy from Indiana University, his master’s degree from Tel-Aviv University, and his undergraduate degree in economics and business administration from Bar-Ilan University. He is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s management development program.
