Transition Team Meeting
July 17, 2008, 2:30 p.m.
Bilger 242
Present:
| Thomas Bingham | Joseph O'Mealy | Alan Teramura |
| Hye-Ryeon Lee | Joel Cohn | Jerry Russo |
| Subramanian Shankar | Takeo Kudo | Laura Lyons |
| David Chin | Noel Kent | Carol Karimoto |
| Mike Kirk-Kuwaye |
Guest: Virginia Hinshaw
I. Minutes of July 10, 2008 Meeting
- no corrections:
II. Discussion Notes
Alan welcomed Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw and acknowledged the Transition Team whose members have been very dedicated in meeting weekly, recognizing that it is the off-duty period for some members. Members present introduced themselves to the Chancellor.
An advance copy of the Chancellor's statement regarding the A&S reorganization that will be posted on her website on July 18 was emailed to TT members on July 16 (copy attached).
The Chancellor thanked everyone for their time and energy. She said that the statement addresses some of the questions that have come up and provides some of her rationale. She would like input on the questions in the statement. What might be the better way to go?
She realizes that it may not be possible to come up with the perfect model, but wants to find the model that would fit us. Recognizing the transitions that Manoa has gone through (three Chancellors in five years) and that A&S is the heart
of the campus, she would like to establish stability and keep moving in a positive direction.
Questions for Chancellor
What title will the position hold?
This came up in the WG meeting. The head of the A&S would be a Dean
. She is open to other qualifiers (i.e., Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean, Executive Dean).
What will the reporting structure be - direct to Chancellor instead of via the VCAA?
Regarding the Dean's access to the Chancellor: It is an anomaly to have Deans reporting directly to the Chancellor - current situation is what was in place when she arrived and she doesn't know the background on how the situation evolved with the JABSOM and Law School Deans and the Athletic Director as direct reports. In her view, it makes more sense to have Deans reporting to the VCAA as the issues and concerns that arise usually fall under Academic Affairs' purview. She has been working closely with the recently appointed Deans in order to help them [get going].
She has begun a discussion on five-year appointments for Deans - to help with recruitment and stability. One of the goals is to not have interim
titles.
She is open regarding the structure of the college below the Dean. As she's mentioned previously, it is important that the structure be the best fit for our campus. When looking for what might be the best fit, she tries to see things from the students' viewpoint; how their needs would be well-served along the way and what key needs can be met.
What is the projected timeline and rationale?
Would like to be patient, but favors moving ahead to recruit a Dean. Even if the model is not perfect/finished, would like to proceed in getting an ad out shortly after the faculty return this fall.
The position is for a campus leader and would expect that the person selected would have some flexibility in approaching the job - would hope for a team player that can come in and help with the transition. As we proceed, there will be modifications and adjustments. The hiring process takes awhile and she feels a need to move ahead on that while discussion and work continues on structural details.
What is the rationale for the reorganization? See attached statement.
What additional resources, for example for hiring, will be available? Will there be a commitment for the resources?
For the next budget, has requested $1M for resources to strengthen A&S. These monies are intended to be an ongoing amount in the budget (not a one time increase) and to allow the new Dean to strengthen A&S.
Regarding the 2% cut for the current fiscal year: because the campus does not have a process in place to do strategic reductions, everything except R&M will be affected. Last year, the campus was able to manage savings of $1.5M in reduced energy consumption, but the costs keep going up.
Other institutions are facing bigger cuts and are using reallocations to deal with this. The Chancellor will be appointing a committee that will be composed of individuals nominated by the Deans and SEC to develop a process for strategic investments and reductions for the Manoa Campus. This committee will be advisory to the Chancellor. She hopes to have this committee and the process determined in the fall semester. Would like to use formula funding rather than line item funding and have flexibility in meeting the campus needs for replacement, recovery, and renewal. The process will determine where FTEs and monies should go.
Once a process is established, would like to reward programs/departments that attracts, retains and graduates students in a timely fashion. Would like to return monies to programs, but will need a reasonable formula.
The TT brought up the faculty's perception that the faculty is shrinking and the administration is growing. There is also concern that faculty resources not be cut into. The number of lecturers is growing as tenure track professors leave.
The Chancellor views having a stable faculty as very important. The Chancellor stated that her view of more staff
is more people to serve the faculty, i.e., secretarial, clerical support; or support staff to serve at the program level.
The Chancellor was informed that one of the TT recommendations will be to reclaim some of the resources that were moved over the years from A&S to the OVCAA.
Regarding undergraduate education
One of the major concerns is how to remedy the undergraduate education issues (i.e., retention, graduation rates, etc.). Coordination across campus is a big need. Communication is an area that needs strengthening. Factors that need to be addressed include:
- curricular reform (what is core, what isn't)
- scheduling (are classes available in sequential order, time of day classes offered)
- class sizes
- advising (are students getting the right information, are they on track to graduate)
The freshman experience is very important. If we can keep students and their experience is good, they will graduate. Students right now are taking too long to graduate. If they finish faster, programs would have access to more resources. The longer a student takes, the less likely it is that they will graduate. Advising is key and A&S plays a huge role in this.
The TT reminded the Chancellor that statistics need to be carefully considered and it should be recognized that A&S is a large, open college that serves the students in the other colleges (for example, freshmen and sophomores are served by A&S and then move into professional schools such as the business college). A&S creates success for them. Programs that were begun in A&S are now under the OVCAA. There is a need to recognize what contributed to the current dysfunctions.
The Chancellor's goal is to strengthen A&S. Would like to hear any ideas about that. She recognizes that the majority of students come through A&S and views it as a shared responsibility. One of the questions she feels will need to be addressed is Should we grow?
Should the campus size increase?
A TT comment was that the downside to having more students is it leads to heavy teaching loads.
What will happen with the suggestions that come from this committee? What happens next?
The Chancellor would like the two groups (WG and TT) to get together. Presentation to the campus would need to occur for discussion and feedback. She would like to keep this group (TT) as she sees this committee as the knowledge base. She favors moving ahead to recruit a Dean this fall.
Additional comments
Concern expressed by TT regarding rushing the timetable. The faculty will need more time (greater than 6 weeks) for discussion and input.
Question on SPAS and this transition. The Chancellor feels that SPAS has put things in place to promote interdisciplinarity. Multi-disciplinarity is healthy and provides opportunity for groups to work together. Funding agencies, foundations and donors like to see solving problems in a global sense. She also stated that it takes more effort to do interdisciplinary work. There will be a need to look at where there is the greatest chance of success and generating support. A policy and process for strategic investment would guide where resources will go. With limited resources we cannot continue to do everything; and instead we should only continue to do those things we do well.
The TT noted that there is a need to look at policies (not necessarily structure) that impede, for example, interdisciplinarity. The Manoa core needs to be looked at with regard to improving graduation rates, undergraduate experience.
III. Focus for Next Meeting
Alan is putting together contributed pieces on
- Functional statement
- Governance
- A&S background
- Determining the Transition Team's endpoint.
IV. Next Meeting:
Thursday, July 24, 2008
2:30 p.m.
Bilger 242
Nancy Fujii
7/23//2008