BOG unanimously appoints DeHayes as university provost

12/04/07 - In fewer than 10 minutes the university gained a new provost with the unanimous appointment of Donald H. DeHayes, who will take the position no later than April 7.At its monthly meeting Monday in Providence, the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education selected DeHayes as provost and vice president for academic affairs, the second highest academic administrator behind President Robert L. Carothers.

For the past 30 years DeHayes, 56, has worked at the University of Vermont, spending the last 10 as dean of UVM's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. During his tenure he helped the school secure about $32 million from the Rubenstein family and assisted with the university's $250 million capital campaign.

Before yesterday's meeting Carothers called DeHayes' expertise with fundraising critically important in a time with dwindling state support, a heavy reliance on grants and private donations, and the recent public launch of the institution's capital campaign that seeks to raise $100 million for the school's endowment.

"He has an entrepreneurship spirit and a will to challenge the institution to find new ways to fund initiatives," Carothers said, a characterization he later presented to the full board.

For his part, DeHayes said he understood the financial challenges and cited finding ways to grow funding as a unique opportunity to improve the state's only public university.

"There's no question the fiscal challenges are intriguing," he said shortly before the meeting started. "I don't think I'm afraid of them, but I find them intriguing."

At UVM, DeHayes oversaw a school second only to Vermont's College of Medicine in amount of money raised. And with many of URI's anticipated donations tied to specific academic projects or buildings, DeHayes said it was important that the provost work with University Advancement to solicit and manage monies flowing in from government and private sources.

"Effective fundraising is a partnership between the Advancement people that know the mechanics and procedures and the academic people," he said.

While fundraising will remain a primary focus for DeHayes, he said it was too early to say what other goals he had in mind for URI, a school with about 11,500 undergraduate students as compared to UVM's 9,000.

Despite a strong background in science and a laundry list of science-related publications, DeHayes said he felt confident in his ability to reach out to faculty and administrators in other disciplines. He points out Rubenstein is a cross-disciplinary school that contains faculty ranging from economists to philosophers. The school, DeHayes said, brings together the "hard" sciences, social sciences and humanities.

"I have an understanding and appreciation of the role of those domains," he said.

Carothers said any candidate would likely come from a specific field and noted that he holds a doctoral degree in English, a humanities field.

"I think I understand and am sympathetic from that side of the university, so it's good to have a mix [of people]," the president said.

DeHayes' appointment comes after a months-long search for a successor to current provost Beverly Swan, who will step down from the position after 17 years on the job.

The selection comes over the objections of College of Arts and Sciences Dean Winifred Brownell, who sent a note to the search committee expressing her displeasure with DeHayes before he was appointed. Carothers, who visited UVM for two days before making his recommendation to the board, said he took into account all opinions.

"I listen to everybody," he said.

And DeHayes promised to listen to faculty, staff and students and said setting up an advisory panel of undergraduate students at URI, as he did at UVM, was not out of the question.

"Students are a heartbeat of the institution and will tell you what they do and do not like," he said.

DeHayes will also become a member of the university's Joint Strategic Planning Committee, oversee various committees and become a tenured professor of natural resource sciences in the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences. His appointment leaves no females at the vice presidential level, a fact Carothers said he was acutely aware of.

"It does concern me and I think we're going to have to look aggressively for people in senior positions," he said.

Swan will assume teaching duties in the English department as the Justin Smith Morrill Distinguished University Professor but will continue her provost duties until DeHayes is fully settled into his $225,000-a-year job.

For now, the Brooklyn , N.Y. native will spend two days a week on campus in an attempt to gain hands-on experience before the fall. He'll also work to repair what appeared to be the board's only criticism at yesterday's meeting.

"Is he a Yankees fan?" one commissioner shouted out.

"I used to be till a couple hours ago," DeHayes said drawing laughs from the board and those seated in the audience.