President Liebowitz recently issued a statement on the upcoming changes within the College Administration for the coming year, 2009-2010.  Have a look by clicking “Read the rest of this entry”!

Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

I write to provide an overview of administrative changes for the 2009-10 academic year.  As we continue to address projected budget deficits and reassess staff positions that become vacant, we are likely to make additional changes, which I will explain in future updates.

As many of you know, over the past two years we had begun to eliminate several administrative positions in order to streamline operations and ensure that our administrative structure parallels the priorities of our strategic plan, which was adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2006.  Given the financial situation of the past eight months, we have had even greater reason to reduce the size of the administration and focus our energies on the core needs of our students, faculty, and staff.

The positions we have eliminated include the Associate Vice President for Facilities; Dean of Student Affairs; Secretary of the College; the Director of Research, Assessment, and Planning; and Dean of Advising.  One other major position, the Vice President for Institutional Planning and Diversity, is vacant, and I am in the process of determining when a search for that position should commence.  There will also be changes in the area of College communications in the coming year, as Vice President for Communications Mike McKenna will shift from his full-time position to a consulting role as part of his desire to work creatively with a small number of clients/institutions in the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds.

In addition to these changes, we will eliminate the Dean of Faculty position and combine the duties of that position with those of the Provost.  The merging of these two positions, made possible by Susan Campbell’s decision to complete her tenure as Dean of Faculty and Alison Byerly’s return to the Provost position following her leave this past year, will consolidate the major functions of the academic administration into one office.  With this change, a single administrator, the Provost, will be directly responsible for personnel and program—e.g., faculty hiring, faculty reviews, curriculum, teaching resources, and budgets.  Oversight of two major academic committees, the Council on Reviews and the Educational Affairs Committee, will also, for the first time in many years, come under the purview of one individual.  This arrangement will provide a single contact for departmental chairs, program directors, Faculty Council, and other administrators, including the president.  This change will also contribute to our efforts at reducing overall costs.

Alison’s breadth and depth of knowledge across the institution and her extensive administrative experience give me confidence that she can take on the core responsibilities of the Dean of the Faculty position, while, at the same time, continuing to provide the broad institutional leadership we will need in the coming year.  Some responsibilities that currently reside in the Provost’s office will be assigned to other senior administrators in order to enable Alison to assume these additional duties.  Her title will remain Provost and Executive Vice President.

Some of the responsibilities to be shifted from Alison’s portfolio will move over to Tim Spears, who, like Alison, brings great experience and broad institutional knowledge to the administration.  After completing this year as Acting Provost, Tim will return to his position as Dean of the College where he will continue to oversee the College’s division of Student Life.  He will also assume responsibility for Library and Information Services; the Mahaney Center for the Arts; the Museum; and our Communications office, where he will work with Mike McKenna and the communications staff during a year of transition for that office.  He will also continue to chair the Staff Resources Committee (SRC).

While Tim has served as Acting Provost this year, Gus Jordan filled in as Acting Dean of the College.  Gus was not replaced in his position as Associate Dean, and so the Student Life division functioned with one fewer position this past year.  With Tim returning as Dean of the College in July, Gus will assume the title of Dean of Students.  As Tim takes on his new duties, Gus will continue to work closely with the Commons Deans, retain several of the responsibilities he inherited this past year with the elimination of the Secretary of the College position, and oversee several departments within the division of Student Life, as he has this year.

In June, Susan Campbell will complete her five-year term as Dean of the Faculty and take on new responsibilities in the administration.  She has done an excellent job as dean, and I thank her on behalf of many for all of her contributions.  In addition to offering additional psychology courses next year, Susan will assume a more project-oriented role by directing the College’s self-study and mandatory decennial ten-year reaccreditation, which will begin late this summer and conclude during the 2011-12 academic year.  She will also take on some of the responsibilities that were previously held by the Dean of Planning and the Vice President for Institutional Planning and Diversity.  In taking on these duties, Susan will be assisted by LeRoy Graham, the College’s Registrar, who is now overseeing the office of Institutional Research.  Susan’s title will be Dean of Planning and Assessment, and Director of the College’s Self-Study and Reaccreditation.

Dean of Curriculum Bob Cluss will expand his current responsibilities by also serving as Director of the Natural Sciences.  In this capacity, he will work with chairs and faculty in the natural sciences to develop a plan that prioritizes our needs in the sciences, brings greater attention to the accomplishments of our faculty and students, and ensures that we take advantage of the many opportunities before us in seeking external support from foundations, federal agencies, and prospective donors.

I am grateful to my administrative colleagues who have taken on, and will continue to take on, new and greater responsibilities in support of our efforts to reduce costs.  As we all learn to adapt to new financial realities, and as the size of our administration shrinks, I ask for your patience and understanding.  We are fortunate to have such talent and experience in the administration, and I am confident that those serving in it will meet the core needs of our faculty, staff, and students in the coming year.  As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Ron