Chairs Wisdom Collaborative
January 5, 2011 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Meeting Notes
Present: See attached list of Chairpersons present. Guests: Provost Malhotra, John
Palmer, Tom Hergert.
Update on CWC by Lalita Subrahmanyan
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Meeting dates will be staggered with monthly meetings on Mondays at noon
and Thursdays at 12:30 every other time.
Lalita will work with a sub-committee of volunteer Chairpersons to set the
agenda for each meeting.
Lalita thanked all the Chairs who had participated in meetings in the Fall
Semester. Summary of issues discussed: scheduling, student complaints,
academic reorganization.
Provost Malhotra responded to questions sent to him previously by the Chairs*:
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Role of Chairs:
o Chairs are the “first among equals” so to speak. Advocate for the
programs and faculty.
o Conduit of information from faculty to administration, and from
administration to faculty.
o Chairs have managerial and leadership functions. Important role of
facilitating effective modes of communication, intra and between
departments and the university.
o A very important role chairs play is to facilitate informal structures
for conflict resolution. Issues that emerge as conflicts tend to spill out
of departments and become part of formal structures. Chairs can
facilitate the resolution of such problems without that happening.
Transition Plan: The Provost is finalizing a transition team to take care of the
technical aspects of transition to the new academic organization. The
technical issues include things like changing course prefixes, accounting
lines, ISRS records, HR issues and budget, faculty issues and governance.
Their task will be to identify tasks, facilitate cascading of tasks across the
colleges and schools.
The transition phase is different from the model development phase just
completed. Conversations will begin at the department/program level, move
to the college/school level, will be aggregated and sent upward to the center
for implementation.
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There will be sub-teams of coordinators led by an academic/administrative
leaders of each Unit (College or School). Department Chairs will probably
comprise that sub-team.
Process for naming leaders for next year: Interims will be identified for
2011-2012 during the period March 1-15, 2011. National searches will be
conducted next year.
Additional matters to be taken up: Student related matters such as advising
and student support will probably be decentralized and a student support
person will be identified for each school or college.
Matters related to Articles 20, 22, 25 of the IFO Contract: Tasks in these
Articles will need to be worked out particularly in those units which have
multiple programs. Conversations will occur in those units and chairs will
have the responsibility and opportunity to take various possibilities and
recommendations to the implementation team.
Definitions of program: What does a program mean? Does it mean a degree
program? Does it mean any program, major, minor, etc.? There are
complications because faculty often teach in multiple programs. How can
rostering be accomplished? Provost’s response: The focus of the rostering
process will be to identify and create groups of faculty who are performing
the same duties. In some cases that would be by degree, in others the criteria
would be different. Important question to be considered: The only purpose
of rostering is retrenchment. According to the administration, separating
administrative and rostering units is a wise decision.
Process for rostering of faculty: Underlying principles for rostering will be
determined. Once the preferred method is developed, the matter will be
shared with IFO before finalization. A suggestion was made that the
principles and criteria be shared with faculty and chairs be consulted before
the matter is fomalized. The Provost indicated that Deans would share the
information with chairs and departments. It was emphasized that it is
unrealistic for all Deans to know the overall picture for re-rostering of faculty
and that they should consult with faculty and chairs.
New and stand-alone schools: How will chairs be included in new schools?
What representation will programs placed in a new department have?
Provost Malhotra said that he would meet with faculty in the new schools to
listen to their ideas and recommendation for structures. Representation
from programs within departments will be sought.
Staffing allocation: Classified staff connected to academic units need to be
finalized. After that is done, according to the numbers mentioned in the
reorganization model document, chairs will get a chance to make a case for
changing the basic line allocation.
Budget numbers for adjuncts, etc.: Notices to rescind retrenchment notices to
faculty – January 15; a better estimate of final outcomes is expected by
January 15. However, the final budget numbers depend upon the new
governor and legislature. Various adjustments may be necessary because of
lower instructional capacity in spite of reorganization because of budget
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being lower. Examples include – multi year scheduling, closer look at upper
division courses, how often they are offered, number of students in each
course, etc. At this time, scheduling has to be done with existing lines –
tenured faculty and faculty lines of faculty on reassignment with
replacements. No other faculty lines can be assumed to exist.
Discussions: Concerns and ideas specific to individual departments and
programs shared informally.
Meeting adjourned: 2:15 p.m.
*Detailed questions can be found in the following page below.
Chairs Wisdom Collaborative
To:
From:
Date:
Re:
Devinder Malhotra, Provost
Chairs Wisdom Collaborative
January 3, 2011
Implementation of Academic Reorganization
We are requesting a meeting with you to discuss the following questions we have in our role
as chairs regarding the implementation and next steps for the process of academic
reorganization.
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What steps are being proposed for implementation of the reorganization?
Which key people in the new schools and colleges would be involved in the
discussion and planning of the next steps for implementation?
What is the role of the chair and what input would the Provost like from
CWC in:
 Discussion of leadership of new schools and colleges. Roles and
responsibilities of Deans and Associate Deans,
 Re-rostering process for new schools and colleges,
 Vision and mission of new colleges and schools,
 Structure for research, internship, advising, etc. as mentioned by
President Potter in his address,
 Physical space changes, and
 Staffing , especially staffing of specialists (technicians, etc.)
Would it be correct to assume that the roles of leaders (Deans, Associate
Deans) will change? For instance:
 Deans (leaders of Schools and Colleges) might have student
complaints added to their job description, a role they have not had
currently.
 Associate Deans (Schools within Colleges) will now supervise
tenured and probationary faculty, will be the external face for their
schools, etc.