In the midst of his efforts to help the University of Southern Mississippi recover from Hurricane Katrina, Elliott Pood, a candidate for Ball State University's provost, took a three-day trip to participate in interviews on campus.
A public forum allowing the university community to ask Pood questions will be held today at 8:30 a.m. in Bracken Library room 225.
Pood, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Southern Miss, said classes had just resumed Sept. 12 on the university's main campus. After Katrina hit, the campus was without power for four days, he said.
"It looked like somebody dropped a bomb on the whole city of Hattiesburg, let alone campus," Pood said. "I just want you to imagine dorms with no water and no power. The food service was trying to cook by generators and using flashlights, and they did it and they got everybody+â-¡+â-¡ - staff and students who were stuck on campus - fed."
Pood said the university's branch campus located on the coast was virtually destroyed.
"We will not be able to reoccupy that campus this year, if at all," Pood said. "I got a pass to go down with a couple of the other deans, and we walked around the campus a week after the event. I will tell you, I came home that night and experienced clinical depression. When you see what you see there and you realize it's not just the buildings, it's peoples lives."
He said nine faculty and staff members lost their homes and have no place to live.
Pood said he has spent his time away from Southern Miss getting to know the Ball State campus, administration, faculty, staff and students.
He said he has been interested in Ball State since 1994 when he came to Muncie to judge an aeromodeling competition at the Academy for Model Aeronautics. While in town, Pood said he decided to visit campus.
"I posed as the parent of a prospective student, so as I walked around campus I asked people questions - to students and faculty - about the university and how they felt about it," Pood said.
He said the reaction he received was positive and encouraging.
"I found a university that was very interested in high technology, that had students who really believed in the university," Pood said. "They loved the education they were getting here. A faculty who seemed to be engaged and enjoyed their jobs, and I thought: This is an interesting place. I need to keep my eye on this in case an opportunity comes up. This is a place I'd like to be."
Pood said he comes from a diverse background in the arts and sciences.
"I think I have an understanding of the difficulties in so many of these departments of doing the job day to day and succeeding," Pood said. "I think can bring an empathy for that and a creativity to help people find new and better ways for doing what they want to do."
Ralph Baker, president of Ball State's chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said people told him that Pood worked well with others and treated people well. They also said he had a lot of "university spirit," Baker said.
"Actually, we found less negative stuff on him than we did on any of the other candidates," Baker said. "He didn't seem to publish as much, but people speak more fondly of him than the other two."
Pood applied for the position of Ball State's dean of graduate school in 1995 but did not get the job.
Baker said he was surprised to learn that Pood had applied at Ball State before and was curious about why Pood was not hired before.
"I think that Dr. Pood has not held the position of provost so there may be some questions about his experience and management style," O'Neal Smitherman, chairman of the provost search committee, said.
Smitherman said Pood has more experience now then when he applied at Ball State previously.
"My impression is that he very much likes Ball State and thinks it's the place to be," Smitherman said.
Pood said his interview on campus for the dean position in 1995 reinforced everything he believed about Ball State.
He said he doesn't want to prejudge Ball State because the people who live in the university community see different perspectives than he does currently as an outsider.
"I think the first thing a provost needs to do is come in and structure a listening process to be able to see the organization the way the organization sees itself, and that's going to take a little time," Pood said.
He said he would set up meetings with all academic departments and programs on campus as well as Student Government Association and University Senate.
"One of the things I'm hoping to do is to have the opportunity to walk across campus and to meet and to talk with some students," Pood said. "I've sort of been outed in terms of the fact that everybody knows I'm a candidate for provost, so I can't play the game of walking around campus saying, 'I'm a parent of a prospective student.' It would have been nice to see if the opinions have changed but I'll ask that question of students."
He said comparing the answers from ten years ago to now, he wouldn't expect too much to have changed.
"There's a life and an energy on the campus that is very attractive as an academic," Pood said. "For me this would be the epitome - to be provost at an institution that I've kind of grown and developed a respect for. I would love this."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
