Carol Garrison became U of L's acting president on June 6 after serving as provost since 1997. She sat down with UofL magazine during her first days in her new role and discussed her priorities, U of L's undergraduate and graduate programs, the relationship of teaching and research, the state's budget situation, diversity initiatives, athletics and more.

UofL: What will you bring from your experience as provost that will help you as acting president?

One nice thing about being somewhere and then moving into a more senior leadership role is that you know the players and the issues, you know both the strengths of the institution and the things that it needs to be working on. We have good relationships in place with the community, the legislature, alumni and the public. That allows me to hit the deck running.

UofL: It's unclear at this point how long you'll be serving in your new role. What do you think can be reasonably accomplished, and what are your goals for this interim period?

I think it's important for anyone in an interim position to act as though you are going to be in the role indefinitely. If you focus just on short-term goals-on care-taking-you're doing a great disservice to the institution.

I will be focusing on the important strategic goals contained in our Challenge for Excellence and on all of our institutional goals. For example we want to keep the focus on expanding both the depth and breadth of the courses and experiences offered within the undergraduate honors program.

I also want to offer more undergraduate research and international experiences.
At the same time we are trying to grow our graduate programs, particularly Ph.D. programs, and we'll focus a lot on providing the resources and planning necessary to enhance them. These programs are very closely tied to the research agenda, as are the undergraduate experiences we've been talking about.

UofL: What do you see as the university's greatest assets?

Clearly, we benefit from committed faculty and staff, strong donor and community support, strong support from elected officials at all levels throughout Kentucky and from our federal delegation. We also benefit from a strong alumni base as well as a strong student base.

UofL: The university has been making great progress as a research institution. How does this fit with the institution's academic mission?

I want to underscore the fact that it's not an either/or situation. So often people want to say that you're either a research institution or a teaching institution. That's not true at all; these are two very complementary missions.

Something very distinctive about U of L is that students who come here at all levels do so because they want to benefit directly from interacting with the researchers and scholars who are on the cutting edge of their disciplines. We need to emphasize these connections.

UofL: What would you say to attract a prospective student to the university?

I would point out our outstanding faculty and programs. I would talk about the value of coming to a research institution and of attending a larger institution that offers more choices and opportunities than one can generally find at smaller schools.

I would also talk about the assets of the greater Louisville community. Students who choose to come to U of L have not only all of our resources at their fingertips, but all of the wonderful arts, cultural and other activities that go on around us.

UofL: What are the keys to making sure students are well prepared for graduate school or their professions?

We've focused a lot on undergraduate education over the last couple of years.

e've totally revised our general education requirements, we've invested broadly in the honors program and in setting up programs to mentor students-not only in terms of how to get into graduate school, but for all sorts of national awards like the Rhodes or Goldwater scholarships.

And, just as important, we listen to what our students and alumni tell us. We're focusing now on being a user-friendly institution. We want to be sure that students who come here have good, positive experiences and receive the kind of support and help that they need.

UofL: Will U of L continue its efforts to attract more highly qualified students?

Yes, we have to continue to work very hard to get our message out. The undergraduate experience at the University of Louisville has been one of the best-kept secrets for a long time. It's a secret we don't want to keep. Over the last few years, as we have been more proactive in letting students know about all of the good things going on here, we've received a very positive response.

In fall 2002 we expect that more than 20 percent of our students will fall in what college catalogs term the "highly selective" group. That's impressive. It says that we have a wide variety of students who realize that they can get a very high quality education at U of L. We will continue to try to recruit students broadly.

UofL: What is the role of athletics in the university?

Athletics is an integral part of this institution. It serves as a point of contact for many individuals who would not otherwise be brought into the university community. It brings to us a large group of outstanding students. We have to remember that there are a number of sports outside of football and basketball-tennis, golf, swimming, volleyball, track and field, soccer, to name just a few-and most of our athletes involved in our sports are superior students and represent the university very well.

UofL: How will U of L address budget issues given the state budget shortfall?

We can anticipate additional pressures on our budget due to the state's budget situation. It means that we have to be even more creative than we've already been. We've got to be sure that we focus on our core programs and initiatives. We need to be as lean as we possibly can in every single area, and we need to concentrate on looking for new sources of revenue, whether through fund raising or other avenues that keep education affordable for our students.

UofL: What would your key message to state legislators be as they prepare for the next legislative session?

They're funding the future, and we can't afford to let our higher education enterprise wither. Every other state is competing to move forward as quickly as possible, and we need to be at the forefront. The legislature and the governor have been wonderful in terms of their focus and support for higher education, and we need to continue that momentum to fulfill the promise that they've started.

UofL: How do you see your administration continuing to support diversity?

Diversity is a core value of this institution. I believe that we can't prepare students to become citizens of the world unless they understand and value diversity. We've put some important initiatives into place the last couple of years, including new funds for staffing and programming, and I work with several on-going advisory groups. I'm working very hard to make sure that we talk about diversity away from crisis situations. We need to build a strong base of interaction, of learning, of conversation that occurs away from specific events. We need to build a base of trust and understanding.

UofL: The university has developed or strengthened several key relationships with private corporate partners over the last few years. How important is it to maintain these partnerships and to develop new ones?

I think it's vital. Those partnerships generally bring resources to the institution that weren't available before and also provide the partner with an outcome, product or trained personnel that it desperately needs.

UofL: Speaking of partnerships, what is your view of the growing relationship with the University of Kentucky?

It has been very exciting over the last year or so to work with the University of Kentucky as it moves forward under its new leadership team. These two research institutions can compete on the athletic field, but when we get into the academic arena I believe that we best move forward by cooperating, sharing resources, sharing ideas, pulling our faculties together to work on common problems.

UofL: Fund raising is an important responsibility for any president. Why should donors invest in U of L?

There's nothing that impacts an individual's life or the community and the commonwealth as a whole as much as education. By investing in the University of Louisville, by making this a superior educational institution, donors are impacting not only individual students who come here, but also the economic, social, cultural, environmental and health-care advances that contribute to our quality of life. There are so many opportunities for donors to tie their interests back to the university in ways that provide multiple, meaningful benefits.

UofL: The president of a university gets a lot of feedback from many different perspectives-students, faculty, friends, donors, alumni, legislators and more. How will you, as acting president, seek and balance this feedback as you make decisions?

In many ways it's no different than being provost or in one of the other senior administrative roles when you constantly get a lot of feedback. It's important to always be open and listening, because there are lot of good ideas out there. Initiatives are always improved by taking the time to get some additional feedback and input.

At the same time not everyone has the same ideas, so the president does have to sit down sometimes and say, "All right, out of this large group of ideas, what can we do? What do we have the resources to do? What fits with our mission and vision at this point in time?"

I plan to seek a great deal of feedback so that I can make the most informed decisions possible, always with the university's goals in mind.