In last weeks at U., Chodorow looks back

Provost Stanley Chodorow will formally step down from his position as an administrator December 31. Provost Stanley Chodorow isn't exactly sure where he's going -- but he knows where he's been. If things work out for Chodorow, he will step down from his post at the end of the semester and head to the University of Texas at Austin as the school's next president. UT-Austin's Board of Regents will choose one of five candidates for the position next Tuesday. If he does not receive the job, Chodorow will likely remain at Penn as a full-time professor of medieval history. Whatever the outcome, Chodorow said he looks back fondly on his 3 1/2 years as provost, and the successes, frustrations and challenges to which he will bid farewell. In late October, Chodorow announced that he would resign as provost in order to pursue the Texas presidency. His desire to pursue the post came as no surprise. In the past year, Chodorow was a finalist for top posts at the University of Michigan, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Arizona -- coming up short each time. Last month, he was named as one of two finalists for the presidency of Tulane University in New Orleans, but he withdrew from the race, explaining that UT-Austin is "a better match." Looking back on his years at Penn, Chodorow said he would have been "more cautious" early in his career at the University, citing a comment he made in October 1994, soon after his arrival at Penn the previous July. "The problem with student representation is that many of them don't have much time," he said about students serving on undergraduate education committees. "It's not as if students are the best-organized people in the world." Then, in February 1995, Chodorow proposed a new University judicial system that contained several controversial provisions -- such as allowing the possibility of defendants never facing their accusers and the prevention of faculty advisers from speaking at hearings for students accused of conduct code violations. Although many students and faculty members objected strenuously to the charter -- eventually leading to those provisions being dropped -- Chodorow said Tuesday he "never understood those students' concerns." "The new system has worked fabulously," he said. "It doesn't rush to judgment and it's in the interests of the community to have a fair system of adjudication." Despite a rocky beginning, Chodorow said he will leave the University with a strong sense of pride about his contributions to the undergraduate experience. He referred specifically to projects such as the recently-released College House residential plan and the Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum and the Speaking Across the University projects that were implemented this year. If he had more time, Chodorow said he would have liked to develop more hubs for focused student groups on campus. Using the Kelly Writers House as a model, he said he would like to see hubs for community service, international programs and visual-arts groups at the University. Although Chodorow said he wishes he could have accomplished more, "you don't have to accomplish everything to accomplish a lot," he noted. During his final days as provost, Chodorow is overseeing a committee investigating officials' handling of star defensive tackle and fifth-year College senior Mitch Marrow's eligibility to play football. Once the four-member committee reports to him tomorrow or Monday, Chodorow will communicate its findings to the NCAA and the Ivy League. Chodorow's executive assistant Nancy Nowicki, who worked closely with him for more than two years, said she considers Chodorow to be "a fundamentally good person." "He has a deep curiosity for the way things work and how to make them better," she said. "The best thing about working for Stan is that he inspires the best in you." If he receives the Texas job, Chodorow will leave Penn in early spring and likely begin serving as president next fall, he said. "Otherwise, I presume I'll teach at least one course in the fall," he said. "I'll spend the spring doing research and starting ideas for courses." If he fails to get the UT-Austin job, will Chodorow pursue presidential appointments at the same time that he revitalizes his teaching career? "I won't seek anything out -- these things come to you," he said. "But if someone's interested, I'd of course consider that. "However, I enjoy my scholarship enough that if that's what I do for the rest of my life, that's fine with me," Chodorow added.

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