“We need to be alive to the changing needs of students in the 21st century,” says Susan Searls Giroux, McMaster’s newly appointed associate vice-president, Faculty, whose own research focuses on the history and politics of higher education. At McMaster since 2004, professor Searls Giroux joins two other new AVPs to help define – and redefine – the research-focused student-centered culture of teaching and learning at McMaster.

Why was the position of associate vice-president, Faculty created?

It was inspired by the principles articulated in Forward with Integrity, President Deane’s open letter to the community in September 2011. This AVP position was conceived to work closely with two other positions – an AVP, Teaching and Learning (professor Arshad Ahmad) and an AVP, Students and Learning (Sean Van Koughnett). My role has many dimensions, but two main components are to oversee the undergraduate curriculum and facilitate faculty development.

So, you will remain closely connected to students?

Yes, as Chair of Undergraduate Council I’m responsible for overseeing modifications to the undergraduate curriculum. In my former role as associate dean of Humanities, I’ve participated on Council for some time already – it’s a really smart, engaged group of people. I’d like to see the Council become a forum to critically and proactively engage with pressing issues – whether that’s envisioning the role of technology in the classroom, or exploring avenues for experiential or entrepreneurial learning, to name just two. We need to be alive to the changing needs of students in the 21st century. As such, one of my roles is to meet with student leadership. Undergraduates are concerned with having more of a voice, and part of my mandate is to help create the formal mechanisms through which that can happen.

And how will you be involved in faculty development?

I will be looking at faculty needs as they take on the many roles we ask them to play as teachers, researchers, clinicians and academic citizens. My role is to facilitate professional development at every stage of their careers from pre-tenure to retirement. For newly tenured faculty, for example, there are so many pathways and little as yet in place organizationally to illuminate and support these options. Do they want to be star teachers? Star researchers? Public intellectuals? Do they want to venture into administration? My role is to help the Faculties improve mentoring programs and to collaborate with the new AVP, Teaching and Learning – all with the overarching goal of ensuring our faculty members feel affirmed, engaged and supported in their academic career choices.

Your fourth book is being published in 2014. What led you to your area of research?

There are all sorts of personal and historical reasons for my interest in racial politics in the U.S., particularly where that politics intersects with education, especially higher education. I grew up just outside of Washington, DC in a low-income, multi-ethnic, multi-racial environment. Then, as I began high school we moved to Connecticut, to a homogeneous, wealthy and largely white community. I also went from a public to a private school. The differences in my own educational experiences were so marked that it became an analytical curiosity for me to think about the consequences of that – in terms of broadly stated governmental commitments to equality of opportunity, to equity and excellence, and to social justice in a post-civil rights, allegedly post-racial context.

What are some of your immediate plans as AVP, Faculty?

I’m focused on improving the provincially mandated quality assurance process for the undergraduate curriculum. I’d like to give faculty members more time to have departmental dialogues and retreats – to think critically and capaciously about what knowledge students need in today’s world, about the innovative ways curricular content could and should be delivered, and how to include more student voices at the level of course and program development.

In terms of faculty development, I’ve started a series of orientation workshops for new professors. These events feature guest speakers from across campus and are followed by a wine and cheese, so first-year faculty can engage across disciplines. I’ve also initiated monthly dinners for new Chairs to discuss shared challenges and create a sense of cohort, again with an eye toward building interdisciplinary understanding and potential collaborations.

The portfolio will grow as I grow in the job, and as Arshad, Sean and I determine our strengths and interests. Our new roles will develop over time, as we work together to determine the University’s needs and how best to move forward.

Read more about Susan Searls Giroux.