Provost Phil DiStefano said he is hoping to be CU’s next chancellor.
DiStefano has been appointed to serve as CU interim chancellor while the search for a new, permanent chancellor is underway.
DiStefano, 62, is not new to this position. He served as interim chancellor from 2005 to 2006, and has also served as provost since 2001. He has confirmed that he will be running for the long-term chancellor position.
“I have been nominated and I have applied for [the permanent chancellor position],” DiStefano said in an interview with the CU Independent.
If DiStefano were chosen for the permanent chancellor position, his role as provost would come to an end.
“My position previously, and actually still is, provost, which is the chief academic officer and what President Benson asked me to do is to do both positions until he makes a decision about a permanent chancellor which he hopes to do by the end of this month,” DiStefano said. “So there is probably a four or five week period that I will be doing both positions as provost and chancellor. If I were to move into the chancellor’s position on a permanent basis, then I would do an internal search for a provost.”
Former CU chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson, who has left CU to become Georgia Institute of Technology’s president, said in a recent press release that DiStefano is an excellent choice for the position.
“Phil has been a friend, a confidante and a trusted adviser to me in my time as chancellor, and he has played a key role in the development of our Flagship 2030 Strategic Plan,” Peterson said. “I have every reason to believe that under his guidance and direction, along with that of the rest of the CU-Boulder leadership team, we will continue to make significant progress on that plan. He will lead the university with vision, diplomacy and ingenuity, and this appointment places CU-Boulder in the wisest of hands.”
Dustin Farivar, a UCSU Tri-executive and junior political science major, said UCSU supports DiStefano’s appointment and his past experience is definitely a plus.
“I think he has done a great job on this campus,” Farivar said. “He has demonstrated his ability to understand how CU’s fundamentals work.”
Farivar said he does not want to see changes from DiStefano while he is in office.
“I don’t think it’s about making changes,” Farivar said. “I think one of the biggest things is just carrying forward the momentum we have with the budget and Flagship 2030, and he knows the steps to take.”
DiStefano said his past experience may not give him a leg up on the competition for the permanent chancellor spot, but it would make the transition easy.
“I don’t know if I have a hand up or not,” DiStefano said. “I was the interim chancellor one other time back in January 2005 to July 2006, so I’m certainly familiar with the position and again given my role as provost worked closely with the chancellor, so I don’t think it would be a large learning curve for me to come in as the permanent chancellor since I’ve done it before and been part of the administration for quite some time.”
Many students on campus are under-informed to the chancellor and provost positions, a fact that DiStefano said should be altered in order to secure their education.
“Why should [students] be concerned about either one of these positions?” DiStefano said. “One of the major duties of the chancellor is to fundraise, to raise funds for students’ scholarships and professorships and endowed chairs that will improve the quality of education on campus. The role of the provost is to make sure that the deans are recruiting the best students and faculty to the campus and that’s why I think students should be concerned about these two positions.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writers Emily Zarka at Emily.zarka@colorado.edu and Sara Morrey at Sara.morrey@colorado.edu.
