By Alison Trautmann
Assistant Editor-in-Chief
As Dr. Peter Cimbolic enters his third year as Provost of Marywood University, he took time out of his busy schedule to sit down and answer a few questions about the new School of Architecture and upcoming changes at Marywood University. What exactly is the Provost? The role of the Provost is that of Chief Academic Officer and Cimbolic serves on behalf of the President, Sister Anne Munley, in her absence. He also oversees all academic programs and the academic quality of each program is very important to Cimbolic.
The School of Architecture as the newest addition to Marywood’s reputation of scholastic excellence has brought in many new students. Cimbolic remarked that the School of Architecture attracted a very high quality student and that the profile of the students is very strong. The School of Architecture also brings a great advantage to the region; there is no School of Architecture within 100 miles of Marywood. Cimbolic also detailed how this new section of Marywood builds on current strengths that Marywood has already. In addition to the beautiful architecture that is featured in the buildings of Marywood, the strong art program also offers an additional bonus to the architecture program.
When asked what students could be expected to see change in the upcoming year at Marywood, Cimbolic replied that he is trying to make course outlines and syllabi standardize so that they incorporate all the same elements so that they outline the expected student learning outcomes. Cimbolic hopes that “by next semester all course outlines will conform to standardized requirements.” The standardization of course outlines will help students in their courses by informing them as to how they will be evaluated in their respective courses.
Cimbolic confirmed that the economy is affecting Marywood and its students just like the rest of the country. The non-existent state budget means that state funds normally available to students are not available to be collected by the University. In order to ensure that students can still attend Marywood and receive their education, Cimbolic said that Marywood is underwriting the grants until the University can collect the money promised by the state.
Cimbolic remarked that his favorite part of the job is faculty development and mentoring. Cimbolic suggests that students should study and do the work for the course that they like the least and get it out of the way first so the rest is easier. Cimbolic’s advice to students is “Study, study, study and manage your time well.”