Getting
to the know the CSULB provost
By Oscar Montealegre
On-line Forty-Niner
He
is a professor at heart, but unfortunately
time does not permit him to step into the
classroom and distribute his knowledge to
fellow students.
Nine years have passed since he has offered
his services to Cal State Long Beach, but
in a short time most students will be able
to recognize his name and his physical characteristics.
 Just
three months ago, Gary Reichard was selected
as the new provost and senior vice president
of Academic Affairs.
His name may seem unrecognizable now, but
CSULB president Robert Maxson said that
notion is about to soon change.
“Students are going to know him soon because
Reichard is very student orientated,” Maxson
said. “The only reason students don’t know
him is because he has only been in the job
for three months.”
According to Danny Vivian, president of
the Associated Students Inc., Reichard is
a person that is dedicated to students and
the foundation of students.
“Reichard is a provost that is completely
involved with students, because he is aware
that without students there is no university,”
Vivian said.
In essence, Reichard is second in command
to Maxson as provost and vice president
of Academic Affairs. He is responsible for
the quality and management of academic programs.
For instance, the department chairs of an
academic department report to the dean of
the department. Then the dean reports to
the provost.
Therefore, he is responsible to manage and
enhance the quality of each department in
collaboration with the deans of CSULB.
“The provost is kind of an orchestra leader
who tries to make sure the parts are all
working in harmony and the appropriate planning
is occurring at the at the central level,”
Reichard said.
One of the present challenges that the provost
and the academic departments are tackling
is attempting to manage the great influx
of students applying to CSULB.
There is a recognizable emphasis between
the division of Academic Affairs and the
department deans to implement an appropriate
enrollment management plan.
“We want to make sure that we don’t invite
so many students to the university that
we don’t serve them well and at the same
time invite as many as we can to educate
well,” Reichard said.
The provost and his faculty are also putting
a new emphasis on trying to improve the
graduate studies this year.
Reichard views this as trying to improve
the climate for graduate studies and also
pays close attention to the resources that
are going into graduate programs.
In addition, the Academic Affairs department
wants to enhance the measures departments
are using to determine whether the objectives
of students are being met.
“This is called assessment but its really
trying to determine better what were doing
for students by the time they leave us,”
Reichard said.
Reichard began his career at CSULB as an
associate vice president for Academic Personnel.
However, before arriving at CSULB, he was
a professor at five different universities.
He began teaching history at Ohio State
University in 1971.
“I am a teacher at heart,” Reichard said.
When asked if he would return to teaching
anytime soon he said, “When my job [as Provost]
stops being fun I suppose I would stop doing
it and go back to teaching.”
As CSULB is rising in popularity and recognition,
Reichard maintains focus that the academic
quality of Cal State Long Beach continues
to gain further strides.
“ I see a role as a provost and vice president
of Academic Affairs at in ensuring that
academic issues are the central of all university
planning. Reichard said the president believes
that but it is my job to continue to always
bring that forward in every university element
discussion,” Reichard said.
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