The provost’s relationship with the faculty and the university president was the main topic of discussion at an open forum Friday for provost candidate John Gruber.

Although Gruber said he did not know much about this relationship at NIU, he said the provost articulates needs, cares and concerns of the faculty to the president. “It’s important to get ideas from the constituents,” he said. He added it is important to relate difficult and important decisions of the president to the faculty.

At Portland State University in Oregon, Gruber said while he was the academic vice president he served “at the pleasure of the faculty senate.”

“The academic vice president explained and provided information to questions asked by the faculty,” Gruber said.

At San Jose State University in California, Gruber said the relationship was different than when he worked at Portland. He said as the academic vice president he served as chair on the executive committee of the faculty senate and made reports on new programs and curricula, program reviews and budget issues.

On relationships with students, Gruber said it was important to obtain student input.

“By and large, the concern for responsible student input into the governance of a university and the quality of educational programs is exclusively good responsiblity … we want good working relationships with students,” he said.

In addition, Gruber said student evaluations of teachers were good for tenure and post-tenure reviews. However, he did question how the publication of evaluations could be used effectively for change. “The important thing is not to develop paranoia and confrontation between students and faculty,” he said.