LETTER TO CAMPUS

Pause in reorganization

Interim President John Green sent the following to faculty and staff on March 12, 2019.

The feedback I have received from our continuing conversations has been useful and instructive on the key challenges of making UA’s academic programs more distinctive, fostering greater faculty collaboration, and addressing our enrollment challenges to achieve financial sustainability.

I heard numerous comments from deans, chairs, and school directors at Faculty Senate describing a collective belief in the scope and nature of our challenges as well as a willingness to confront the difficult realities we face, build on the strengths we have and pull together in a collective, campus-wide effort. They noted that we have made progress already, through the hard work that was done during Academic Program Review, the Administrative Activities Review, the preparation of the Three-Year Action Plan and laying the foundation for developing next year’s fiscal budget.

The revised reorganization proposals I circulated were yet one more step along that path. Many of the comments I have heard indicate that there is substantial support for achieving the objectives contained in the reorganization proposals without attempting to reorganize portions of the institution at this time.

While that sentiment is hopeful and encouraging, it is tempered with the reality that efforts along these lines have not succeeded in the past or have taken an inordinate amount of time to accomplish. As I noted during my comments to Faculty Senate last week, simply maintaining the status quo for its own sake is not an option.

Perhaps now – with the acceptance of our challenges and the willingness to engage in intensive and focused efforts in key areas that can change our trajectory – we can still accomplish our goals by pausing the current discussion concerning the reorganization proposals and collectively establishing meaningful ways to meet those objectives and holding ourselves accountable. This would help us accelerate progress in implementing the Three-Year Action Plans.

The following are some examples of the goals I believe we need to set for ourselves. The specifics will be developed in consultation with deans, chairs, school directors and Faculty Senate that are realistic and actionable.

• Propose new and enhanced undergraduate degree programs in at least these areas of demonstrated strength and distinctiveness (polymer, corrosion, biomimicry, cybersecurity) with the goal of offering them in Fall 2020
• Better align curriculum in chemistry and chemical engineering with polymers and biology Increase faculty participation (both graduate and undergraduate levels) in delivering current and new curriculum across college and department boundaries
• Facilitate easier, seamless movement of students within related degree areas (e.g. engineering technology and engineering) across college and department boundaries
• Significantly decrease General Fund subsidy of research activities
• Significantly increase research grant awards, especially from cross-college faculty collaboration in areas of excellence and strength
• Better connect faculty in Wayne College, Developmental Programs, Applied General and Technical studies and General Technical Studies with main campus departments based on academic discipline

We do not have the luxury of extended time to engage in this work. I believe that it is realistic that we agree to complete this work during the next six months, for the start of the coming academic year. If we are unable to achieve these goals, we will need to revisit the reorganization proposals.

I look forward to this collective effort.

Sincerely,

Dr. John C. Green
Interim President
The University of Akron