By Daisy Yiu
Ryerson has nabbed its newest senior administrator from the University of Guelph. Dr. Alan Shepard will become Ryerson’s new provost and VP academic on July 1, 2007. He will be replacing Errol Aspevig who has held the position for seven years.
Shepard, currently the associate VP Academic at Guelph, said he looking forward to a change of scenery once he makes the move to Ryerson.
“I’ll be in downtown Toronto whereas University of Guelph was a 1000 acre campus in a small city,” said Shepard. “What it looks like outside my window will be very different.”
The provost is responsible for academic activities at Ryerson, including program overview and development, as well as determining the portion of the university’s budget that should go towards academics.
Once Shepard takes the position, he would like to focus on issues such as study space for students and helping the library meet the needs of the school.
“Ryerson is moving to become a comprehensive university, a research intensive university,” said Shepard.
In order for Ryerson to become a research university, such as Guelph, he wants the library to continue growing and gather more resources.
To prepare for his new post at Ryerson, Shepard will be “trying to meet with student leaders, representatives of the faculty, teaching staff and provost staff. “I have a few months to get ready,” said Shepard. “I’m delighted that Ryerson hired me and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Aspevig did not return The Eyeopener’s phone calls for comment.
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