A Chat with RIT’s Provost on His Role, His Goals and the Importance of DEI | March 2024
Prabu David began his tenure as provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at RIT on August 1, 2023. He is the university’s top academic officer. He brings a wealth of experience and ideas from his work at Michigan State, Washington State and Ohio State Universities. It has been several months since he first arrived in Rochester. We first asked how his transition to a new campus and a new community is going.
Provost David:
Having served at RIT for seven months now, I deeply appreciate the university and the community. I am grateful for the warm welcome I received. I also am grateful to President Munson, the search committee chairs, Drs. Jenkins and Edwards, and to members of the search committee for believing in me.
What are some strengths you have noticed at RIT?
Although RIT is known for its strengths as an engineering and technology school, I have discovered its strengths in the arts, design, humanities, and social sciences. Working with leadership and our faculty, I hope we can showcase all our strengths. I noticed some of our diverse strengths when preparing for the job interviews. With every encounter I have on campus, I am looking for an opportunity to build inclusive excellence and create a sense of belonging in our community. Through the fusion of arts and technology, RIT is uniquely positioned to become a thought leader in creative intelligence and creative technology, areas that will have a big impact with the emergence of generative AI.
What does a provost do?
A provost spends most of the day in meetings (just joking). As the chief academic officer of the university, the provost works with college deans and associate provosts to ensure the quality of our academic programs. Our primary objective is student success. I am also excited about new programs in AI and the new doctoral programs, which will enhance our reputation as a cutting-edge research institution and improve our rankings.
What are your previous experiences? How did it prepare you for this position?
I began my career as a tenure-track professor in journalism and communication at Ohio State University. I served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Communication there. After 17 years at OSU, I accepted the position of Associate Dean at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. Then I had the honor of serving as Dean of the College of Communication at Michigan State University for nine years. During the end of my term at MSU, I also served as Associate Provost.
What were some of the most important contributions in your professional life?
Being dean of the College of Communication at MSU was one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences. I grew as a person and a leader. After reports surfaced of sexual abuse by sports doctor Larry Nassar, MSU faced many crises. Leading through those challenges, I learned the values and practice of servant leadership. We also had to deal with racial tension following the George Floyd killing, which radically reshaped my thinking on DEI and the need for a sense of belonging.
Tell me about your DEI journey and what is the spark?
I am a fan of Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. In it, he offers a cautionary warning that has inspired my journey.
Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
He also uses the analogy of a thermometer and thermostat to make a very important point to inspire action. Typically, we have nurtured excellent thermometers in the academy. We train our students to observe, report, and discuss racism and inequities accurately and honestly. But we have not acted sufficiently as thermostats in moving the dial for social change. We have a choice – remain a thermometer or become a thermostat for social change. I think the answer is obvious. We must translate our values into meaningful actions to promote inclusive excellence. We must also offer values to prepare our students to become thoughtful and compassionate citizens.
What have you done to promote DEI?
As a member of the DEI strategic planning committee at my former institution, I attended numerous hearing sessions. At these meetings, I heard students, staff, and faculty passionately express their disappointments, hopes, and aspirations for a more diverse and caring community. I was moved by their powerful expressions and their hope for a society that better understood systemic racism and their challenge to leaders to take a risk and act with conviction.
Drawing from these experiences and with the help of our DEI director and colleagues in our college, we launched a plan to diversify our community, create pathways for students and postdocs, and make other strategic investments. Our efforts yielded good results.
During my 8-year tenure, we increased the representation of faculty of color from 12% to 30% and increased diversity on our leadership team. We increased the representation of women in all levels of leadership in the college. We addressed work climate, inclusiveness, shared governance, and pay equity. We also launched three pathway programs to increase diversity—Ignite, a summer program for undergraduates, a mentorship program for master’s students, and a dean’s post-doc fellowship. Through development, we raised funds to offer need-based scholarships for field trips and experiential learning to students from lower-income families.
What are your plans to promote inclusive excellence at RIT?
My goal is to work with our leaders on campus to make RIT a community where everyone enjoys a sense of belonging and nobody is left behind. Education at RIT is a ticket to success in life. We want to make this success accessible to students from all backgrounds who come to RIT. Also, STEM areas struggle with lower representation of women and people of color. RIT has an opportunity to lead the way in closing this gap by becoming a destination for women and students from underrepresented communities in STEM.