From a one-room school house to Miss Betty Crocker to a liberal arts college, Carolyn Newton has had her share of experiences. With those† experiences under her belt the College has chosen Newton as its new provost.
A provost is, by definition, the senior academic administrator at an institute of higher education.† At Wooster, the provost’s responsibilities include a host of different academic and co-curricular programs such as academic administration, faculty and curriculum development, care of the Art Museum and athletics. The search which has, been ongoing since last May, came to a close with Newton who will take office† on July 1 of this year.† Newton is currently the provost and academic vice president at Berea College in Berea, Ky., where she has been for the past five years.
In her time at Berea College, Newton commented, “I have focused on many aspects of increasing student success Ö I believe that for students the college experience both inside and outside of the classroom is all of one piece.” Hoping to transfer these goals to her position at Wooster, Newton has her own visions specific to our college.
Familiar with Wooster’s renowned Independent Study program, Newton was intrigued by the manner in which the “I.S. program provides a motif that integrates and coordinates the courses that are part of Wooster’s general education requirements,” she said.† She feels the students are impressive, a feeling which was heightened after her interactions with the search committee, “Alex Jue [’10] represented the student body extraordinarily well, he asked insightful questions and was an articulate and enthusiastic spokesperson for the Wooster experience,” said Newton. A defining quality that attracted Newton was inclusion of “diversity and inclusivity” in the College’s five core values.† According to Newton, “actually acting on those values to diversify the faculty as demonstrated by those hired in recent years,” really captured her attention.
In addition to the already present outstanding qualities of the College, Newton hopes to add some of her own.† A firm believer in getting to know students and faculty as individuals, Newton plans to hold office hours, lunch group meetings and an array of campus activities.† As her job covers a large host of responsibilities, Newton plans to participate in everything from music to athletics.† Acknowledging that excellent programs such as Wooster’s present challenges, part of what Newton hopes to accomplish is to “help identify and address these challenges in ways that provide a stronger infrastructure to sustain the excellent work of faculty and students.”
In terms of student experiences, Newton would like to increase the percentage of students participating in engaging experiences such as internships, service learning and the study abroad program.† By developing the governance of the College’s faculty, in encouraging the faculty to work together and creating a more effective manner of governance, Newton hopes to advance faculty and institutional concerns.
Aside from her career at Berea College, Newton has had an impressive drove of lifetime experiences, including a 27-year career as biology professor and a stint as Associate Provost at Kalamazoo College.† As a child, Newton grew up on a ranch in South Dakota and later moved to Nebraska.† “I had many farm animals as playmates but rarely saw other children except at school,” said Newton.† Continuing on a unique track Newton attended school in a one-room schoolhouse on the prairie of Nebraska for grades one through eight. “There were only two other children in my first grade class.† We had electricity, but no running water at school,” Newton commented.
Academics were always something that intrigued Newton and to her, reading was an amazing adventure.† Newton joined a class of 50 students for high school, a place where she was fortunate enough to have teachers in both math and science that influenced and inspired her to continue on her education after high school.† After being selected to participate in an NSF-sponsored math and physics program at the University of Wyoming her junior year, Newton found herself surrounded by devoted students who, like her, shared an interest in math and science.
Confident that she wanted to pursue a college career, Newton faced many obstacles, “neither of my parents had graduated from high school and they did not value higher education, especially for girls,” expressed Newton.† As a result of her parents’ values Newton emancipated herself as a student, pursuing any and every scholarship that would help fund her college dream.
Newton found success in a General Mills scholarship and was named Miss Betty Crocker of Nebraska.† As a result of her placement Newton was provided with an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C. and Colonial Williamsburg. “For a country girl from a low-income family, this was an amazing experience ó flying on an airplane for the first time, visiting the Smithsonian Museum and having breakfast at the White House with First Lady [Patricia] Nixon, in the State Dining Room.† Needless to say, I still buy Gold Medal flour,” said Newton.
With the help of a high school teacher Newton landed a summer job at Colorado State University, leaving home the day after graduation to begin work.† It was at Colorado State University, that Newton went on to receive an interdepartmental degree in Biological Sciences.† She then went on to receive her doctorate in Biophysical Sciences from the State University of New York at Buffalo.† It was during her last year at graduate school that Newton decided to explore the options associated with a career in a liberal arts college environment.† After visiting more than a dozen liberal arts colleges, Newton settled on Kalamazoo College in Michigan.† She taught in the biology department for 27 years and spent the last six serving as the Associate Provost.
It is now Newton’s turn to take her experiences and use them to shape the Wooster community.† With a host of various life experiences the campus, its students and faculty will lend itself to Newton in hopes that in return, she will successfully “help create a campus culture that recognizes and values the scholarly work of faculty and students.”