Andrew Kerley, Executive Editor
VCU’s year-long search for a new second-in-command and chief academic officer finally came to a close last week.
Arturo Saavedra, the former School of Medicine dean and interim provost since December, was confirmed by the VCU Board of Visitors into his new role as the permanent provost.
Saavedra is the third person to hold the high office in the last year, as former Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos departed in April 2025 for his same job at Pennsylvania State University. It was then held by interim Provost Beverly Warren until December 2025.
Now, at the crossroads of new goals, policies and a shifting university identity, Saavedra sat down with The CT to discuss the matters most important to the VCU community.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview has been shortened and edited for clarity. The full transcript can be read here.
Why do you think you were chosen to be the new provost?
Saavedra: “I would like to say that through my life, my utmost goal has been to be of service, to understand where I sit from the perspective of impacting change so that others benefit.”
For those who have no idea, how would you describe the job of VCU’s provost?
Saavedra: “The provost is technically the chief academic officer, so all things related to our academic enterprise report up to the provost. And that is curriculum design, resources needed for good pedagogy, how we combine the talents of our faculty of teaching with research and innovation. And frankly, also how to be innovative in the space, so that we teach not just facts, but also critical thinking and innovation.”
Considering all the things students do every day, how much of that stuff do you get your hands on?
Saavedra: “I hear a lot of it, yes. We understand what courses, for example, are courses that are challenging when you are pursuing a major. We understand what learning and teaching techniques are better than others. We understand, frankly, what aspects of student life outside of the classroom impact learning and students.”
What will your priorities be as provost? How will your tenure differ from Sotiropoulos and Warren?
Saavedra: “I think those are two illustrious people in the Provost Office. My goal is to bring into the university a perspective of interdisciplinarity. We, of course, train in different areas, and we have subject matter expertise in specific areas. But I’m also interested in helping people navigate the situation that most of the big problems in society, the real problems of society, have to be approached from more than one perspective. It is no longer sufficient to just train in your specialty or area of interest.”
How would you describe VCU’s identity? How will your vision preserve or further that identity?
Saavedra: “When I think of VCU, the first word that comes to mind is ‘opportunity.’ We want everyone who comes here to be able to see themselves as important to the industry and enterprise, to know that whatever dreams they have, they can navigate them here, they can find the resources here. And we want people to know that the time is now and today when it comes to impact and need.”
VCU recently set a goal of reaching $1 billion in research dollars. Do you see greater research, particularly in STEM disciplines, as the future of this school?
Saavedra: “So when we talk about the $1 billion goal, maybe the best way to say that is the impact of our research ought to require a billion dollars in funding. So it is not the funding that will lead to our impact, frankly. It is our impact that will necessitate that funding. When I look at the problems of today, I do think STEM is, of course, very important. With the advent of AI, with our strengths in health, particularly those are important.
But the true power of a university is to bring people together to understand all the issues. Let me give you an example. My mom had a brain tumor, and yes, that required a skilled neurosurgeon to come in and do a surgery. But the person who taught her how to recover double vision and prevent her one eye [from becoming] a lazy eye, was to draw, using the art to color and to focus the pencil. It was exactly art therapy that led her to be able to drive again, read and continue teaching. So how do you really solve the problems of society or the people we are appropriated to help? By looking at all of the perspectives that surround the needs of that person or community.
I am so proud of the impact that our School of Education has, because not only does it look at the right ways to teach, or the innovative ways to teach, it really specializes in placing students and teachers in difficult-to-place school districts. We are teaching our students to say ‘where is the biggest need?’ and unapologetically, ‘let’s go solve that.’”
The VCU community has heard a lot about this “interdisciplinary” initiative. Could you please explain what that is in layman’s terms?
Saavedra: “When we think of ‘interdisciplinary,’ we have to understand that each of our schools and centers have a strength and a perspective … It’s figuring out how a doctor learns to speak to a sociologist, and how a computer engineer learns to speak with a fashion designer.”
What would you say to those worried about STEM research initiatives overshadowing the arts, humanities and social sciences?
Saavedra: “I would say that, as a humanity, as a group of people through history, we have always understood that our greatest strength is how we relate with one another. I can tell you, as a doctor myself, that the concepts in science are just so interesting. But how do you talk to a patient who’s going to hear that they have cancer? How [do] you talk to an individual that may not understand the impact of the medications they take? Or how [do] you talk to a family member about what it means to pay very high medical bills? All of that relates [to] the ability to be human with one another, to understand fear and to communicate. Without a strong foundation in the humanities, in the arts, in every aspect of this institution, we don’t have strong STEM.”
Can the VCU community expect that sentiment to trickle down on the funding level?
Saavedra: “Absolutely. You know, every field has different sources of funding, through foundations or government agencies or even internally from VCU, and though all are different, they equivalently impact our institution … Regardless of the different sources of income, I think as a university leader, I have to hold myself accountable to understanding that together, we’re greater than the sum of our parts.”
In recent years, there have been concerns about academic freedom — particularly with partisan board of visitors appointments, the dissolving of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the cancellation of the racial literacy requirement, which was postponed by the previous provost after years of work before being ultimately killed by the board of visitors. What is your take on these matters, and will you fight to protect free learning at VCU?
Saavedra: “Academic freedom is imperative, not only because it leads to conversations that maybe we haven’t had before and new innovative spheres, but because that’s what we’re here to do. To be able to teach, not just content, but teach civility, exchange of ideas and yes, considering all aspects of humanity, that is paramount, and I will defend that ‘till the last day I am in this job.
At the same time, we have to understand that charged conversations need to be held professionally, that we should be able to seek data, that we should be able to communicate inside and outside of the institution with other people that have gone through similar challenges.
I will say the incredible job that our board of visitors does is that they bring in a perspective from their own fields, having been incredibly accomplished at what they do, in guiding us in perspectives that perhaps sometimes, at the operational level, we cannot see. I appreciate difficult conversations. I appreciate the ability to feel like your words matter, and that you can have a perspective. That will always be upheld as long as I am the provost of this institution.”
So you are saying you will fight to protect academic freedom. What will that look like materially?
Saavedra: “We have, not only relied on the knowledge within the institution and people that come here with training from all aspects and disciplines and areas of the country, in the way we recruit that brings in diversity of thought, but we’ve also brought in structures related to our own donors and philanthropists that have helped us establish centers of civic discourse, of democracy. And so working together, not just with the resources that we have inside, but seeking resources externally as well …”
Last year, under Sotiropoulos and Warren, VCU implemented a new tenure policy that further differentiated between term and tenure track faculty. They argued it was in pursuit of raising VCU to the same standard as other R1 research universities — though many professors pushed back, saying it did not fit the nature of their disciplines. Now you are trying to implement another new policy to adjust the post-tenure review process. A lot of faculty are worried about their job security rapidly changing with little of their own input in the process. What would you tell those concerned faculty?
Saavedra: “So, three things.
The first thing is: let’s be clear about what we’re here to do. We’re public servants, and the education of students and our impact on the community via research and innovation is at the center of all we do. We do support our faculty as our most important asset in delivering that mission. But, let’s be clear, the mission is to keep the education of students and the innovation via research and impact to communities at the clear center of what we do …
Second, that policy is meant to invest in the career development of people. Whereas before, the policy only impacted those who had already performed an unsatisfactory review. This policy tries to catch people early so we can hopefully all together inflect that course into the incredible accomplishments that these people clearly had because they were tenured.
And third, and most importantly, this is not a new policy. We have had this policy since 1997. It has not been revised since 2013. Everything around us is changing, and the world is changing. Not only are we late to updating this policy, it ought to reflect what our institutions are doing … We do not expect for this to impact more than 20 people in a year. We have a huge faculty of upwards of 750, and by impact, I mean positively impacting us, trying to inflect the course so that performance can return to the glorious, excellent performance that was required to gain tenure to begin with.”
What is changing about the world or university that begs the new policy to come about now?
Saavedra: “As education has become more expensive, and as society has begun to question the value of that education, and that’s not just the students, but parents, we have to hold ourselves to saying ‘your hard earned money, and the money of our state is held in accountability.’”
What is something we did not ask you about that you think the VCU community should know?
Saavedra: “I would simply say it’s not only an honor and a privilege to serve in this role, quite frankly, it’s the greatest dream and opportunity in my entire professional career. I take the job seriously, and going back to how we opened, we are public servants, and our faculty is collaborative and amazing. Let’s leave with that. They are our greatest asset to fulfilling our mission, again, to educate students and to put the community research impact at the center of what we do. The fact that we’re looking at some changes that may be hard to interpret only reflects our changing environment and our desire to be increasingly more transparent, equitable and specific about how we move together, forward onto the future. Thank you for giving me this time.”