Positions of Power: Jack Kay
Tim Jagielo
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Provost Jack Kay followed what he describes as "the traditional course" on his academic career path.
Kay earned both his doctorate and his bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University, and got his master’s from Southern Illinois University.
"You start out as a faculty member and somehow get into administration accidentally," Kay said. "You end up doing things that get noticed and cause people to notice you, and ask you to do administrative jobs." After holding several administrative positions at both Wayne State and Southern Illinois, Kay ended up at UM-Flint as provost.
At the university level, the provost is the chief academic officer and is responsible for representing students, faculty and staff. As provost, Kay is charged with using resources available to ensure academic excellence. All of the various colleges and deans within the University report to Kay.
"My focus is on academic affairs of the University," Kay said. "[We] make sure everything is present to provide excellence."
Through out his academic career, Kay has held nine interim positions, including most recently as interim chancellor of UM-Flint. He feels that being active in his role makes him a successful provost.
"I think the key thing is that I get things done," he said. "I’m very task- and goal-oriented, and I look at the objectives that are set for the institution, and then I do things to meet those objectives."
One of those objectives was to make Former Chancellor Juan Mestas’ dream of student housing a reality.
"The past 18 months we’ve had to go to the [Board of] Regents I think four different times to get permission to do various things," Kay said. "Lots of challenges along the way that did require a team of people that kept things moving. I’m pretty proud of the accomplishments in this last year and a half in terms of housing."
Kay’s role also changes depending upon the time of year. Currently, much of Kay’s time is being spent on the University’s reaccreditation project.
"Every 10 years we have to present a detailed report to [the Higher Learning Commission] proving that we are worthy of being accredited, that we are a quality institution," Kay said. "Right now a lot of my time is dedicated to that self-study."
Other times of the year, Kay focuses on various professors’ tenure applications.
"Typically my day involves a lot of meetings," Kay said. "These aren’t meetings that are meaningless, these are meetings that really look at what are the goals of the University, how do we marshal the resources to accomplish those goals.
"A lot people think that the provost can change grades or tell a teacher they’re not doing things right; that’s not what a provost does. A provost helps discover the dreams, and ambitions of the students, faculty and staff of the university, and helps find ways to fulfill those dreams."
Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
"I don’t see myself retiring; in some ways, being provost here is a dream job and I can see myself staying in that role if the faculty wants me to stay in that role. I could also see myself return to what my first love is, and that is teaching."
Where do you see the university in 5-10 years?
"I see this university as approaching 10,000 students. I see us having many new graduate and undergraduate academic programs that you can’t even think about what they’re going to be today. … I see the campus expanding into the downtown area. I see the campus having buildings downtown. I see perhaps our department of visual arts having a building in the downtown area with top floor studios that the artists can work in. … perhaps a first floor radio station that can open onto the street, just on and on. I see this University as being part of what brings ‘college town’ alive in Flint."
What can you tell us about your family?
"Erin (15) is my one and only child, and my spouse [Ruth] and I have been married for 30 years last year."
Why do we need a provost?
"In this day and age where there is so much more attention on accountability of the institution, and proving that you are actually doing things well, and also coordination between schools and colleges, really a provost becomes an important position. … Another area where a provost is vital is the tenure, promotion, and recruitment of faculty. The University rests on the strengths of its faculty, and the provost is there to ensure high standards. … Finally, in these days of accountability, just having someone who pushes departments, schools, and colleges to continually review their curriculum to continually ask questions about how effective their teaching is, to continually ask them about the quality of teaching; I think that becomes an important contribution of the provost."
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