By Dom LoVallo
Managing Editor
Next week will bring an end to Andrew Roth’s first semester as St. Bonaventure University’s interim president. This also means Roth, Ph.D., will start his final semester as president in January.
“It’s gone really fast, but it’s been a really good experience. Bonaventure is a great school, not without its challenges, but not without its opportunities. All-in-all, it’s been a very good experience,” said Roth.
Even though Roth knew his time as president would be short, he took the time to talk to not only the faculty, but also the Bonaventure community.
“I feel like I have initiated some important conversations with the faculty and the members of the campus community to think about some issues that Bonaventure needs to engage with,” said Roth. “I’ve had… a positive interaction with the faculty and the faculty senate.”
With almost an entire semester to look back on, Roth said he did have some accomplishments to be proud of.
“I think we made some headway in implementing the strategic plan,” said Roth. “We’re looking at, of course, a number of the strategic initiatives that are growth oriented, but we are also putting in place… an operating efficiency committee — task force would be a better word than committee — to try to think about and try to analyze how the university could do business at a more effective and more efficient way. Which is to say, how it could do what it does, maximize student learning outcomes, while at the same time trying to figure out how to do that on a more cost-effective basis, and we’ll start by looking at administrative operations and how those might be done.”
The walkway from Devereux Hall to the Reilly Center was also spruced up, and there are more renovations to come, said Roth.
Roth may only have six or seven more months left, but he said he still plans to get stuff done while he’s president.
“I’d like to get our arms around the budgeting process and rationalize it so that more realistic revenue projections are made, and begin to really take look at costs so that they can be approached strategically and intelligently, rather than reactively,” said Roth. “So we’ll be looking at, this winter, how we really do budgeting and trying to put in place a more effective budgeting process. The target, of course, would be to have something for the board by the March board meeting.”
Roth, from what he said he’s been told, said the McGinley-Carney Center is still on track to be up and offices occupied by Feb. 29.
With Dennis DePerro, Ph.D., taking over the university’s president position next June, Roth said he’s enjoyed his time, but knew what he was getting himself into.
“On the one hand, [it’s a] relief,” said Roth. “On the other hand, a little bit of regret. I’ve come to really be fond of Bonaventure. I’ve said on a number of occasions if I was 10 or 20 years younger, it would have been really an exciting challenge, but facts of life are the facts of life: I’m not. So a little bit of regret that it will be over, more quickly than one might expect. Graduation will be here in May before you know it, and the summer will go by rather quickly.”
Roth said he wants to wish the St. Bonaventure community a good break and happy holidays.
lovallv15@bonaventure.edu
