Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 1/16/08 Section: News

Bryant

Staros

Quigley

Ullman

The search for the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa's next vice chancellor of academic affairs has begun and will continue from Jan. 22 through Feb. 1 with a string of public meetings and interviews designed to provide the entire university community opportunities to participate in the selection process.

The office of vice chancellor for academic affairs deals with the course and falculty development and evaluation for the entire university, including creating or crumbling of colleges.

"The vice chancellor for academic affairs is the deputy to the chancellor and is responsible for all academic affairs which include all of the schools and colleges, except medicine and business," said Joanne Clark, the university's associate vice chancellor for community relations, during a recent phone interview.

According to Clark, the search for the new vice chancellor has been about a six-month process, and there are currently four finalists vying for the position:

Susan Bryant: Vice chancellor for research and a professor at the University of California, Irvine.

James Staros: Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor at Stony Brook University in New York.

Peter Quigley: Vice chancellor for academic affairs, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Diane Ullman: Associate dean for undergraduate academic programs and a professor at the University of California, Davis.

The vice chancellor for academic affairs is an important position to the university and the students it serves, said Arlene Abiang, UH Mānoa's public information officer for external affairs and relations.

"They oversee ... the student body and make sure everything's set for the students," she said.

The importance of the position to the university is found in its design. A vice chancellor for academic affairs works closely works with the chancellor in overseeing current academic procedure, matters dealing with curriculum and the development of new academic programs, Clark said.

The vice chancellor for academic affairs is the planner, developer, organizer, director, and evaluator of academic programs, policies, procedures and guidelines. In addition, the office develops and oversees faculty promotion and tenure processes, and is located at Hawai‘i Hall, room 209.

While the visitation period spans 10 days, the candidates will only be on campus two days each. Bryant will be on campus Jan. 22 to 23, Staros on Jan. 24 to 25, Quigley on Jan. 28 to 29 and Ullman on Jan. 31 to Feb. 1. Their public forums are on Jan. 22, 24, 28 and 31, respectively.

For Clark, the meeting process is paramount for the strengthening of the office and puts faces and perspectives behind the names of the four candidates.

"That's an open meeting where people can listen to them and hear their visions for the UH Mānoa campus," Clark said.

At the end of every public meeting, the university will distribute evaluation sheets to the audience. Every comment written on the evaluation sheets will be taken into consideration by the review committee overseeing the selection and will be incorporated into its conclusion. The chancellor will then review its recommendations and forward them to the Board of Regents.

"We really value input from every single one of our UH community colleagues, and we encourage every student to get involved in every one of these sessions. We think it's really important," Clark said on the Web site.

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