Yeshiva University’s search for a new provost has culminated in the appointment of Dr. Selma Botman. In an interview with the Observer, Dr. Botman encouraged dialogue between the administration and the student body and called for creative solutions to YU’s financial challenges. “YU is so important that is must be made sustainable,” she declared.
Dr. Botman hails originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and has a PhD in history and Middle Eastern studies from Harvard University. She has previously served as the provost of the City University of New York, as well as president of the University of Southern Maine. As part of the first generation in her family to go to college, Dr. Botman describes her decades of service in higher education as partly biographical: “Education has changed my life.”
One of Dr. Botman’s primary objectives as provost is to “align the academic core with the business plan.” Dr. Botman views YU’s financial challenges as part of a larger trend in higher education, noting that universities around the nation have adopted a business model which is largely unsustainable because it promotes expansion of services, even as the growth of financial resources lags behind. Echoing President Joel’s e-mail to the student body this past December, Dr. Botman suggested that as part of the plan for financial rehabilitation, certain programs and services may be cut.
However, she insists that downsizing must co-exist with innovating and that the experience of the student body cannot be compromised.
“You have to build at the same time that you cut,” she said.
The success of such operational changes will hinge, according to Dr. Botman, both on her ability to communicate the seriousness of the financial situation and on the faculty’s willingness to recognize the “depth of the problem.”
Dr. Botman also stressed the importance of a vocal and active student body. “Students need to communicate gaps of the curricular tracks within an existing major and a new major,” she said. “They can expect me to listen and to accommodate their needs.”
Considering that in her previous administrative roles Dr. Botman spearheaded a campaign which raised money for scholarships and for a new performing arts center, the recent reduction of academic scholarships and the sale of the Schottenstein cultural center may be particularly worthwhile topics for students to discuss with the new provost.
Dr. Botman also expressed her admiration for the YU student, who manages both a dual curriculum and a rich extracurricular schedule. “Students are too busy to not be attended to.”
In addition to her administrative and structural goals for the University, Dr. Botman hopes to teach a history course on the Middle East at Stern, and describes teaching and interacting with students as one of the most rewarding aspects of her experience in higher education.
In 1977, Dr. Blanche Blank became YU’s first female academic vice president; when Dr. Botman formally steps into her role as provost in July, replacing current provost Dr. Morton Lowengrub, she will become part of a long line of women who have served in high academic posts at the University.