Dr. Peter Ricketts, Carleton University’s incoming Provost and Vice-President
Why Carleton? You could’ve stayed at Nipissing; and I’m sure you’ve had many other opportunities in front of you. Was it the University? The City, the setting; have you heard stuff? What made you want to come here?
Well it was a combination of things.
Certainly Carleton has always been a university that I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for.
I actually taught a summer course here thirty years ago…so maybe you shouldn’t put that in your article, you’ll give my age away.
But literally, in 1979, the summer of ’79, I taught a geomythology course in the Geography department. So I stayed in residence here, and taught the course in the summer, and it was lovely. And that was my introduction to Ottawa because I had been just one year in Canada at that time. I came over form England in ’78.
And so, I had the experience at Carleton and I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for it since then. And just as it happens, I’ve always known a number of people who’ve worked here. I knew some of the faculty at that time in the Geography department, and then I also overtime got to know some of the administrators, particularly, when I was Dean of Graduate Studies at Dalhousie.
I knew John Epstein very well, who was at that time, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. So I’ve always sort of known people at Carleton. So it was partly that; I had some familiarity with the university. I also – in 1999 – I was part of a team from the AUCC, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and we did a review of internationalization at Canadian universities and I did uh, Carleton was my case study. So I came here and talked with people about how international students are treated and how they’re dealt with and all that.
We did a report which was called “A Warm Welcome” where we talked about the kinds of things you needed to do to make international students feel welcome at Canadian universities. So I had another experience with Carleton there.
So it’s partly that; partly Ottawa is an attractive city to live in so I think from that family circumstances it was good as well.
And also, I had heard very good things about president Runte; because if you’re going to be interested in the provost position, who the president is, is very important obviously; and so, I had heard a lot of good things about her. And I was certainly interested in the sorts of things she was talking about. So I think uh, it looked like a good fit in a variety of ways.
A number of things came together that made it a very attractive proposition.
President Runte is very student oriented. Most students know who she is. They recognize her. When they see her, they can say, ‘that’s our president.’ In a year from now, are student’s going to be able to do that with you? Are they going to know who you are?
I certainly hope so very much.
There’s sometimes a tendency with these jobs that you have trouble getting out of your office and getting to meetings, but, I’d like to do that.
I have been fortunate in my career of having some experiences in different sizes of universities; and so I’ve worked at larger universities, but also small ones. And, at the small universities, a lot of emphasis is put on being concerned about students, and interacting with students.
Nippising University, where I work right now is one of the one’s that is probably most often viewed as a very student oriented university; and in fact, one of the big stories was that the president sometimes stops – and I do it to – we sometimes pick students up who are walking along the street and give them a lift up to the university or something like that
In my back ground I’ve had experience at institutions where putting students first is very important. So I would certainly hope – I would be very disappointed that if in a years time, people weren’t able to say – you know, not everybody would know me – but certainly would be able to say that they do know the Provost, and the Provost does interact with students, and is seen walking around and chatting with people – yea I like to do that.
Why should students be excited about you? What unique experience or perspective do you bring to Carleton?
I think student orientation, and having come from institutions that have that as a strong focus, is something that I do bring.
If all my previous experience had been at say, very large institutions: you don’t get the same experience as an administrator, or as a faculty member; and when I was a faculty member, I was at a small institution. And student faculty interaction and involvement was very important; so I do bring that, and I think that hopefully will be exciting to students.
Since you’ve been here, gone through the search process, what has caught your eye; what are you excited about?
I think that in relation to the strategic plan – Defining Dreams – I think that lays out a potential exciting path for Carleton, particularly in the context of what we’re going through right now; we’re going through significant economic change that will lots of social implications, political implications; and, I think we’re going through one of those moments in history where, when we come out the other side, we’re going to be somewhat different than when we went into it, and that’s a very exciting opportunity for universities, and for students, and for faculty because students will want to be prepared for what that new world is; and I think that challenges us to, maybe, talk stalk and look at the ways we do things – if that’s really the best way to do things; and it gives us opportunities, perhaps, to create new ways working in education, in research, in teaching; and I just think Carleton, because it’s a relatively, relatively young university, and in my view has always had a bit of a reputation for being a little more progressive and maybe taking some risks; I think Carleton is a great place to perhaps be a university that really does take advantage of these changes and recognizes them.
And I think the defining dreams strategy is exciting and what I am obviously going to be particularly concerned about working on is developing the academic plan that makes that a reality; so that very exciting to me. I’m looking forward to that.
You obviously have a wealth of experience in different university settings – you’ve been an undergraduate student, a graduate, and taught, and have been an administrator at a number of universities – so, what advice would give Carleton students to help them make the most out of their experience here?
My advice is to use your university experience – it’s a unique time in your life – and use it to the full, and to use the academic and the social and the sort of cultural aspects of being in university to the full; you’re being exposed to ideas, you’re exposed to different perspectives, different views, an incredible mix of people from diverse backgrounds; a university is a microcosm of the world in many ways and you’re only here for like three or four years. (Now if you’re like me you never leave; I liked university so much I never left); But, most students are here for a short period of time; so if you don’t take that opportunity, I think you really miss something, and so my advice is use it to the full; and if you can do things like get an international placement, or do something different; just don’t be confined by your curriculum; really, really use it to the full, and see this a life changing opportunity for you, not just a career opportunity; it’s that too, but it’s life changing as well.