Spectrum - Volume 17 Issue 21 February 23, 1995 - Provost speaks to Staff Senate

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including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Provost speaks to Staff Senate

By Richard Lovegrove

Spectrum Volume 17 Issue 21 - February 23, 1995

New Virginia Tech Provost Peggy Meszaros told the Staff Senate on February 16 that she wants "open, honest, accurate, and timely communications across campus."

Achieving that goal, she acknowledged, will not be easy. For instance, she said, rumors start and spread before anyone can address the substance of the rumor. "How can we get a handle on rumor control?" she asked, adding that she has considered establishing a rumor column on the computer.

Meszaros made her own bid to improve communications when she posted a message to the university community on the Tech computer system and on the Worldwide Web. In the message, she asked people to introduce themselves electronically and to pass along their ideas for making Virginia Tech a better place. In two weeks, she received 2,400 responses, including some from across the nation.

Meszaros also said that among the several colleges and universities where she has worked, Virginia Tech is the best because of the excellence of the faculty, staff, and students, and because of the positive spirit here. She said she wants to see a working environment that promotes self-worth and professional development. "I need your help," she said. "This is truly a partnership."

The new provost said the governance system seems to be well developed, but she also noted that it takes interested and dedicated people to make it work. When a couple of senators mentioned that some supervisors still discourage participation in the governance system, Meszaros said she would make it clear to the deans of the colleges that she supports the system and that people who want to participate should be allowed to do so.