Matthew Byers, senior editor

After an exhaustive national search for the next Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA), President Sandy Pfeiffer announced on March 11 that Dr. Paula Garrett, the College’s current Associate Dean for Faculty and Curriculum, had been offered the VPAA position and had accepted. Garrett now faces the arduous task of reorganizing and strengthening the Department of Academic Affairs.

“Paula Garrett’s tenure as VPAA/[Dean of the College] comes at a time when we have considerable challenges ahead in academics,” Pfeiffer said in his announcement. “She and I have had detailed conversations about these challenges, and I’m ready to give her my full support in meeting them.”

Garrett said that one of the biggest challenges to academics at Warren Wilson is that the Department of Academic Affairs has not changed its procedures or organization to meet the needs of the increased student population. She said that most of the immediate changes she would make concern infrastructure.

“It’s like a big city that used to be a small town,” Garrett said.

Over the long-term, her goal is to determine which academic departments are the strongest, which need to be improved, and which need to be combined or eliminated.

“I’m worried about rigor. When students complain that something is too easy, then it’s too easy,” Garret said. “Sometimes I feel [academics] is the weakest part of the triad.”

She said that, while Environmental Studies and Natural Sciences are strong programs, she wanted to make Warren Wilson a more reputable Liberal Arts College. While she maintained that more research would need to be conducted before she would know what specific departments would receive attention, she did say that the undergraduate writing program was a natural candidate for improvement because of the College’s widely recognized MFA writing program.
At his most recent meeting with Student Caucus, President Pfeiffer also indicated the Business Department would probably be strengthened.

Dr. John Casey has served as the interim VPAA for three years. He applied for the position but was not offered the permanent appointment. He will return to his professorship in the Philosophy Department next semester.

“I have a great respect for Casey,” Garrett said, “I’ve had a blast working with him.”

The search for the new VPAA spanned two semesters and brought seven candidates to the College for interviews. Of these seven, three were offered the position, but all of them declined. Whipple suggested that a few of the candidates might have been intimidated by the work the VPAA position demanded.

“Because the school has grown, the quantity of work attached to that position has grown,” Mathematics Profssor Dr. Gretchen Whipple, who headed the search committee, said. “It’s become an overwhelming job.”

 “Each of the candidates coming to campus commented that Paula was an amazingly talented person,” Whipple added.
Garrett arrived at Warren Wilson in fall of 2008. Previously, Garrett had been the director of the writing program at Milsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

“I loved my job,” Garrett said, “But I didn’t love Jackson so much.”

Garrett applied for both her current Associate Dean position and for the position of Director of Undergraduate Writing. She was granted interviews for both positions, but said she preferred to work in faculty development rather than writing.
Though she wanted to apply for the VPAA position, Garret said she refrained from doing so because of her relatively short time at the College.

Garrett speculated that she was offered the position because of her unique situation in that she was not a complete stranger to the College, but was new enough to have an outsider’s perspective.

“I’m an interesting hybrid,” Garrett said. “It’s easier for an outsider to have objectivity, [but] we need to heal from within. We don’t need another year for someone to learn.”