Pizza and prompts with new Provost Kelly Bidle

By Cal Sutton

THE aroma of pizza traveled through Room 119 in the Norm Brodsky College of Business, as Provost Kelly Bidle sat down to speak to members of the Rider community on Oct. 14 at Pizza with the Provost.

Bidle was asked to attend the event, hosted by the Student Government Association, with the goal to begin and maintain a strong student-faculty relationship, as the university’s provost has not directly interacted with students in the past.

To promote the event, SGA sent out emails telling students, “This event is a great opportunity for students to connect directly with our Provost, learn more about the academic vision of our university, and share their own thoughts, ideas, and experiences in an open and welcoming setting.”

To add onto the engaging environment, a colorful slide projected onto the whiteboard ornamented with graphics of pizza-related items read, “Welcome! Grab some pizza & drinks.”

A variety of students, encompassing many majors and every class year, showed up to the event eager to ask questions and get to know Bidle on terms deeper than surface level.

Shoes shuffled on the ground and small conversations erupted as students crowded around a table covered with boxes of freshly delivered pizza.

As slices of pizza were served, soda was poured and seats were taken, various questions bounced around the room.

When first asked what a provost was, Bidle responded that to define a provost, you need to understand what a dean is, which is like what a principal to a school. A provost oversees the deans, Bidle said, and is therefore like what a superintendent of to a school district.

Professor Charles Ray, who teaches in the business college, stepped into the event and also added that in business terms, a provost could be a “chief academic officer,” just like how businesses have chief financial officers and chief executive officers.

Aside from learning about a provost’s duties and the meaning of the title, Bidle also was asked questions regarding her past as a professor at Rider.

When asked what her favorite class she has taught was, Bidle said she loved teaching environmental microbiology. “Bacteria and viruses, I gotta tell you, they’re not all bad. … We would not be alive if our bodies weren’t swarming in them as we speak right now.”

Bidle’s passion for the sciences glowed as she spoke about her time as a microbiology professor at Rider and shared some of her favorite knowledge with the group.

As Bidle answered more questions about topics such as academic advising and engaged learning, students seemed to become more comfortable within the discussion, as multiple people were letting their voices be heard.

Parker Correa, a freshman English major who uses they/them pronouns, originally came to the event to fill a requirement for an on-campus organization but they found that attending the event gave them more insight than they expected it to.

Correa expressed that they found the openness and informality of the event to be positive. “It was nice … meeting the provost on a more personal level.”