Transition Team Meeting
May 1, 2008, 2:30 p.m.
Saunders 704
Present:
| Thomas Bingham | Joseph O'Mealy | Alan Teramura |
| Dick Dubanoski | Ned Shultz | Joel Cohn |
| Jerry Russo | Takeo Kudo | Vilsoni Hereniko |
| Carol Karimoto | Drew Hovanec | Mike Kirk-Kuwaye |
| Karin Mackenzie |
I. Change in Convenor
Tom Bingham informed the group that the Chair of the Council of A&S Deans serves for a one-year term from July 1 through June 30 and the chairmanship rotates among the four A&S deans. On July 1, 2008 the next Chair will be Alan Teramura. Alan has agreed to assume the role of convenor of this Transition Team beginning today so that the committee's work can move forward.
II. Premises and Tasks
A. There is a need to identify the items that the team agrees on as the basic premises for its work. For the group's consideration, Alan asked for agreement on three items:
- The Chancellor wants a single A&S college. Joseph O'Mealy feels that what the Chancellor wants is a single Dean and not necessarily a single College.
- There are two Transition Teams discussing this issue: This team, created by the current deans with representation from the five units; and a second team which is in the process of being put together by the Chancellor. The membership of the Chancellor's transition team has not been announced at this point, however a few members are known and there is some overlap of membership. The Chancellor recognizes the two teams. What is unclear is the role the teams play in the process.
- We must be willing to exercise our rights and obligations as affected groups and have our voices be heard.
B. Modified Tasks
After discussions and reports from the team's previous meetings, the deans thought it best to modify the team's tasks from what was in the original letter to members. The modified tasks in order of priority are:
- Administrative structure and function of a combined College of A&S that preserves our unique and outstanding programs while at the same time elevating the stature of the Colleges of Arts & Sciences on campus and to the community
- Governance
- Potential academic re-alignments (departmental mergers, move from one division to another, formation of new groups)
- Mission statement of combined Colleges of Arts & Sciences and plans of action (such as facilitating discussions of
Greater Expectations
).
The first task of the team will be to examine and recommend the administrative structure for the college. Once a recommended template/structure is determined, the other tasks can be looked at and dealt with.
Notes will be taken at the meetings and be provided to team members so that they may share the information with their constituents.
Team member listing was distributed. A Civil Service representative will be identified and added to the list.
Since the need to discuss various structures is going to take several meetings, input was requested on frequency (every week, every other week) and availability to meet throughout the summer (a concern for faculty members who are off-duty during the summer and may have commitments). It was agreed upon to meet weekly for the first several weeks until a structure is found that can be agreed upon and then meet every other week. Drew Havonec, the undergraduate student representative, said he would find someone to attend meetings in his place during the summer. Weekly meetings will start next week, same day and time. Location will be announced later.
III. Administrative Structure
A list of Peer and Benchmark institutions as identified by UH was distributed. Institutions were divided by those with a single college of A&S and those with multiple colleges.
Alan proposed that individuals on the team select an institution from the single A&S college list, research the structure at the institution and report back at the next meeting. Research can be via phone calls, internet, etc. As an example, Alan distributed descriptions for the UC-Davis and University of Wisconsin organizational structure. This exercise is a way to see what other models are used in different institutions that could serve as a template for us. Models from institutions not on the peer and benchmark list can be examined with the caveat that they must be public institutions and of a comparable size. If the institution has several campuses, the flagship campus should be used for comparison. Members selected institutions as follows:
Mike Kirk-Kuwaye University of Iowa Tom Bingham University of Georgia Ned Shultz University of North Carolina Carol Karimoto University of Colorado Jerry Russo University of Florida Karin Mackenzie University of Missouri Joseph O'Mealy University of Oregon Vilsoni Hereniko University of Washington Joel Cohn Ohio State University Drew Havonec University of Michigan, University of Rhode Island, University of Massachusetts Takeo Kudo Indiana University
Team members not present today will be asked to select an institution from the list.
IV. Next meeting: Thursday, May 8, 2008, 2:30 p.m. Location to be announced
Nancy Fujii
5/5/2008