For Vice President and Secretary of the University Lisa Tedesco, it has been a difficult month to add the position of interim provost to her duties. But the job will not become any easier in the coming weeks, as University President Lee Bollinger said Saturday he will leave the University.

Tedesco met with members of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs yesterday to discuss the group"s issues with the University issues SACUA said they submitted to Bollinger that have gone months without any action.

The topics included changes to the University"s prescription drug benefit package, faculty involvement in the Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics and teaching standards.

Tedesco said she was not confident enough to address many of SACUA"s concerns at the meeting, but said she would look into them.

"I"m still in learning mode," Tedesco said. "It has been a very difficult month for one to understand how to be the provost at the University of Michigan. I ask you to be patient with me."

SACUA members said Bollinger is violating a University Board of Regents" bylaw because he has failed to appoint the full six faculty members to the BICIA, which has prevented the committee from meeting during the past two months, said board member and psychology Prof. Robert Sellers.

"We have not, as a body, moved forward and it is my understanding that that is the reason," he said.

Tedesco said she would look into the matter.

"I"m not exactly sure how everything fits together. I"m just learning these things," she said.

The interim provost position was originally designed to be a short-term post, but after Bollinger"s announcement, SACUA members said they believe Tedesco may be holding the position for longer than expected.

"I"m sure that when you accepted the position you didn"t think it would be the position it is today," SACUA member and history Prof. Rudi Lindner told Tedesco. "It is likely that you will bear this office a little longer than you imagined."

SACUA members hope that the added responsibilities and time commitment the position is demanding will encourage Tedesco to take a more proactive response with regard to decision making.

"I hope that when you see the way clearly to make a decision you will have the courage to make it," Lindner said.

SACUA Vice Chair and Dentistry Prof. John Gobetti encouraged Tedesco to face her role confidently for the best interests of the University.

"The highest concern of the faculty is that we need to move forward. All of us faculty and administration have to make some important decisions so the new president, who ever he or she is, may step into a very good position," he said.

Tedesco addressed faculty concerns by saying she will fulfill the demands of the job.

"I fully intend to make decisions. I"m not a place holder," Tedesco said. "I"ll do my best to serve the University in the way it needs to be served now."