Have you ever wondered how such a diverse campus can function and continue to expand? That is where our Interim Provost, David Boardman, comes in. He is the eyes in the sky, helping the colleges within Temple University access the resources and guidance they need to help the student body reach their goals. With so much that has happened during his time as provost, Boardman is helping continue the innovation and excellence for years to come.
“The span of responsibility is enormous, from student issues, faculty tenure and promotion, research policies, [and] research misconduct,” Boardman said.
There are many things that Boardman is in charge of overseeing: creating a strategic plan to guide Temple to make future decisions, changing the honors program into an honors college, and general education standards among all programs, to name a few. The scope of his responsibility covers many components of what keeps Temple up and running.
“Near the beginning of my tenure,” Boardman said. “I created nine task forces that have been hard at work dealing with other challenges here at Temple, and making progress on quite a few important issues that we face.”
These task forces have allowed him to cover a lot of ground and support the many issues students and faculty face. Boardman previously served as Dean of Klein College of Media and Communication, where he has continued his passion for working with students to reach their full potential. He is also the founder and current chair of the nonprofit newsroom Spotlight PA, where he continues his passion for journalism.
Spotlight PA helps to give information to many news outlets to help give the people of PA credible information about what is happening around them. With his true passion for journalism, he tries to create opportunities for students so they, too, can reach their full potential. His efforts include the creation of a council to have the student bodies’ voices heard.
“I really miss being a Dean because I love connecting with students,” Boardman said. “When I became Dean at Klein, I created a Dean Student Advisory Council that is about a dozen students from all of our majors and represents each year, and I really get to know those students well.”
The Dean Student Advisory Council is one of the highlights of Boardman’s job as a Dean. This gave him the opportunity to connect with students, understand what conflicts they are facing, and give them a space to air out their issues to find solutions to the problems that they are experiencing on their academic journey.
Even with this new position giving him the ability to make the changes that help the evolution of Temple University, there are still so many things he misses from when he was a Dean. However, with David’s dedication, there is a clear path for him to provide the support needed to help Temple thrive and meet the goals that will continue the public’s education for years to come.