New University Provost Gives a Nod To the Past as He Looks Ahead

Matthew Hersh

The role of a university provost is somewhat difficult to define. But for Chris Eisgruber, the Princeton University professor who recently took on the position, defining his role is as simple as looking in the mirror.

Officially, Prof. Eisgruber will serve as the University's second-ranking official and, in the absence of the president, its senior officer. He will oversee the University's academic programming and chair the University's Priority Committee, which makes annual recommendations to the president regarding the upcoming year's operating budget.

As a graduate of the Class of '83, and a former faculty member of the Woodrow Wilson School, the University Center for Human Values and the Department of Politics, Prof. Eisgruber is part of the social fabric that makes up the University community.

"People ask what it is that I do, and I tell them that I'm the provost and sometimes they're brave enough to ask what that means and other times they're playing along with a look of incomprehension on their faces," Prof. Eisgruber quipped.

The role of provost grew out of increased responsibilities taken by the president, namely those that fall at the exterior of the University's walls.

However, Prof. Eisgruber is also in the position of making discretionary decisions regarding how to spend money and how to allocate space. This puts the provost in a position to deal with various, otherwise-deserving departments asking for more space and money.

You can imagine that as a former professor and director of the University's Program in Law and Public Affairs, Prof. Eisgruber finds himself in a position he's never been in before.

"Most of what I'm required to do is say 'no' to deserving proposals, and worthwhile things, but even though we're in great shape as universities go, we can't do everything," he said.

But as a former academic director, does that require a more sympathetic ear? Yes and no.

"It's a big transition," Prof. Eisgruber said of the move from faculty member to administrator. "But it's a distinguishing feature of university administrations in general that there are academics in the roles of top administrators," he said. "It's critical, and we need that because the issues here aren't just issues about money and space, they're issues about using money and space for the objective of teaching and research."

At least for now, however, Prof. Eisgruber will not be able to teach courses in the Program for Law and Public Affairs, and in that respect, he can keep his sights set solely on the administrative tasks at hand.

While it's difficult to leave his professorial duties altogether, he is confident that he will be able to begin teaching again after he has mastered his new role.

"I won't be able to teach for at least the next couple of years, I'm going to try keep writing, but that's going to be hard, and in that respect, my own life will be less engaged in the defining pursuits of our institution than it has in the past," he said. He brightened when he added that he is "energized" by "constantly dealing with people who are immediately engaged" in academic activities.

"In some ways, one of the attractions of the job is that it broadens my perspective." He referred to "learning a lot more about projects elsewhere," citing new programs at the University's Genomics labs and Engineering Department. "Those are things I would have known less about working in my own domain."

He will also continue advising students with their theses. "For me, contact with students is energizing, so I hope I don't lose that," he said.

Overseeing Expansion

One of Prof. Eisgruber's new responsibilities as the overseer of academic programming and operating budget is a major project currently underway at the University: the construction of Whitman College residence hall on the site of the former Pagoda tennis courts. The completion of the dorm will allow for an increase of 500 in the undergraduate population over the course of four years in 125-student increments beginning in the fall of 2007. Once complete, the total undergraduate population will be 5,100. The increase, in scope and size, is the most drastic change to the University's undergraduate population since it became a co-educational institution in 1969.

"There's obviously a lot of planning that has to take place," he said, not only in bringing more students on to campus, but in creating a new center for student life. Additionally, there are new curricula being developed, and the University needs to ensure that the students have adequate classroom space and teaching faculty.

But, Prof. Eisgruber's background as a Princeton student and teacher revealed itself when he pointed out that "this will be a wonderful opportunity for us to say 'yes' to a few more students rather than 'no' to those who are applying."

An Alumnus

Affiliated with the University as a student, alumnus, and as faculty member, Prof. Eisgruber, at age 43, could be perceived as young for the provost spot, but his experience with the University seems to put him in tune with what the job entails.

"In doing administration, it helps to have a deep sense of the place and why people care about it, both what its strengths are and a caring, affectionate view of its weaknesses," he said, adding that "most of Princeton's alumni feel that way."

So even on days when defining the role of the job is easier than performing it, Prof. Eisgruber seems prepared to take all that in stride.

"Even when I have to say 'no' a lot of the time, or put up with a couple of tough meetings, I can look around and immediately feel that I know why I'm doing this, and that's because I care about this."