Several key administrators visited the Faculty Council meeting on Oct. 7 to discuss administrative staffing changes as well as the status of college-wide projects.
Linda Petrosino, interim provost and vice president for educational affairs, addressed the reorganization of the Office of the Provost. She said she wanted to implement staffing changes before the search process to find a new permanent provost concludes because she noticed a hole within the office following the departure of David Garcia, former associate provost for business intelligence.
Danette Johnson, who served as the assistant provost and director of core curriculum, took on responsibilities with the Academic Policies Committee, the Committee on College-wide Requirements and the Integrative Core Curriculum under her new title as vice provost for academic programs.
Carol Henderson, former associate provost for accreditation, assessment and curriculum, was named associate provost for faculty and student advancement. Petrosino said her responsibilities will also now include student retention, faculty recruitment and diversity and inclusion.
Petrosino said the search process has begun for an assistant provost for finance and administrative operations, which would replace Garcia.
She also said the national search process for the new permanent dean of the School of Business will begin when the search company Isaacson, Miller, visits the college Oct. 21–22 to begin the pre-search process. Diane Gayeski, dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications, will head the college’s search committee.
The college is up for full-scale reaccreditation every 10 years, which is a process that assesses the quality of an institution of higher education. Since the college’s full reaccreditation is coming up in 2018, Petrosino said the college is in a “silent phase,” meaning internal preparations, such as forming a committee headed by Henderson, will begin this year.
Barbara Belyea, faculty athletics representative, gave a presentation to the Faculty Council about the statistics of Bomber athletes in the classroom and on the field. For example, she said there is a 34 percent admission yield of athletes, the average GPA is 3.3 and the retention rate of athletes is 8 to 12 percent higher than non-athletes. Belyea also encouraged the members of the Faculty Council to support the athletes by considering their other commitments outside of class, going to games and asking students about their games.
Gerald Hector, vice president of finance and administration, said he is trying to streamline the college’s budget to prevent the spike of spending that usually occurs around April and May each year. The budget cycle, which he said begins on June 1 and ends on May 31, 2015, is expected to be more levelset in terms of expenses.
The problem, Hector said, is making sure each department allows enough of the budget each year for expenses, like conferences. He said there are too many layers of transfers in the current system, and there is no way to customize requests through Parnassus.
Jason Harrington, associate professor of media arts, sciences and studies, said he thinks the college should start making the software more user-friendly for students and faculty. This, he said, should apply not just to the funding system, but to all softwares the campus community uses, like HomerConnect.
Hector said this and other terms of the strategic plan were improved upon when four chief information officers spent a day and a half at the college and drafted a report, which helped shape changes to the strategic plan. Additionally, Hector said he is very pleased with the hiring of Keith McIntosh, associate vice president for information technology services, because of the work he’s done to help improve the campus community.
