Faculty introduce new administrators, professors

Administrators introduced new Athletic Director Eric Ziady, who stated his academic plans for the athletes, and announced the hiring of Provost Domenico Grasso to the faculty Senate on Tuesday. 

“It’s obviously been a very eventful three months on the job,” Zaidy said. “Every day I am here, I am more excited about our potential than the day before.

Ziady said after spending 23 years working in the collegiate athletics administration in the Boston area, he was most proud of the success his athletes had both off and on the field. He said the athletes at Boston College had a 97 percent graduation rate, something he would like to maintain in his new position at the university. 

The university would participate in Super Bowl celebrations due to the victory of the Ravens, whose team included alumni Joe Flacco and Gino Gradkowski, Ziady said. The university athletic website currently features a splash page that shows Flacco hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. 

Interim Provost Nancy Brickhouse said the university made its decision for the new provost after a confidential process. Grasso, who was not in attendance, will begin his appointment on Aug. 15, she said.

Grasso is currently the vice president for research and the dean of the Graduate College of the University of Vermont, Brickhouse said. Grasso has been working with the University of Vermont faculty to build university-wide Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives, also called “Spires of Excellence,” she said.

Grasso has also been a visiting scholar at the University of California-Berkeley and is currently the editor-in-chief of the journal “Environmental Engineering Science,” she said.     

Brickhouse also announced James Richard, a kinesiology and applied physiology professor, as the new vice provost for graduate and professional education, John Sawyer, a business administration professor, as the interim associate provost and Ravi Ammigan as the director of the Office of International Students and Scholars. 

Pollack closed the meeting by issuing a warning about the website LocAZu, which hosts more than 500 exams from classes, and how to prevent their exams from being posted online.

“I have to contribute an exam to see another exam,” Pollack said. “I was going to contribute one of my exams with all the wrong answers.”

Some students post their university, picture and year on their profiles, making them easier to track down, Pollack said. However, he said some individuals posting the exams might not actually exist.

Pollack said individuals may have stolen tests from the university in larger lectures by sitting in the classroom and walking out with the test. He said professors need to strictly monitor who is taking exams and check if all individuals in the lecture hall are students at the university. 

“These people are bold enough to post [the exams] online and we can track them down,” Pollack said.