The Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) will implement its new organizational structure in the coming months and, thus, will seek approval of personnel appointments at the April Board of Trustees meeting. This new structure implements the recommendations that came from the UA community including Faculty Senate, University Council and a focused committee of faculty, staff and students.
The groups made a few simple recommendations. First, the campus looks to OAA for leadership and support in UA’s academic, research, service and community engagement mission. Second, compliance and oversight functions should not dominate OAA’s mission and purpose. Specific units and their new reporting lines are essentially finalized but we are still making small adjustments. After spring break, we hope to share these refined details with those interested.
The OAA reorganization will take the next step in collaboration across campus. OAA will share talent and common goals with the finance area and the Office of Inclusion and Equity, among others. The efforts of a year ago resulted in a new structure for our colleges and the library, and we are building out the leadership in the colleges via open, national searches. Likewise, Student Affairs, under Dr. John Messina’s leadership, will continue to report through OAA and provide leadership in student services while expanding its partnerships with academic areas to improve student success. The finance areas will provide the underlying budget, planning and human resource functions for OAA to help us meet our mission within realistic financial constraints. The Office of Inclusion and Equity, in conjunction with OAA-based offices, will lead and collaborate in the areas of student services, student success and building a diverse, inclusive community.
This streamlined and matrix approach meets two primary goals. First, the University needs to be focused on collaborative and team-based problem solving. Second, the structure seeks to eliminate redundancy in staff in order to keep the costs within currently allocated budgets. This will encourage a more fluid and collaborative approach to getting our important work done. Three positions are modified from past practice: the vice president of research and business engagement, the dean of the Williams Honors College and vice provost of student pathways, and the senior vice provost.
The Vice President for Research and Business Engagement will report to the provost and will be responsible for fostering and enhancing the creative, research and scholarly efforts of our students and faculty. In addition, the Graduate School will report to this position given its natural role in support of such endeavors. This vice president will also be expected to serve as the main conduit for business and community partnership formation and execution. We will launch a national search for this position immediately but do not anticipate the search bringing candidates to campus until fall 2021. In the meantime, I have asked Dr. Phil Allen to serve in this role on an interim basis.
The Dean of the Williams Honor College and Vice Provost of Student Pathways will lead efforts to attract and retain students who enter The University of Akron. Students come to UA via different pathways and with varied levels of preparation. Students can be young high schoolers or older adults, require augmentation of basic math or English skills, or ready to launch into an Honors thesis project. This vice provost is responsible for understanding and supporting each of these student groups so that they progress and graduate in a timely way. A national search for a permanent person to serve in this role will commence in fall 2021 and, in the meantime, Dr. Joe Urgo will assume this role on an interim basis pending Board approval.
The Senior Vice Provost understands the large span of responsibilities within OAA, ranging from faculty career development, to new program development, to student services, to personnel management to name a few. It is an important person not only for the provost, but also for the faculty, the Faculty Senate, the president and the Board of Trustees. We are at a pivotal moment in time for The University of Akron which requires a capable person to fill this role immediately. Dr. Cher Hendricks is in her ninth year serving in provost offices including at the University of West Georgia, the University of Idaho and here at UA. She has established herself over the past year as a solid partner in our UA community and has earned the trust and confidence of many on campus. Pending Board approval at the April meeting, Dr. Cher Hendricks will be appointed as the senior vice provost effective July 1, 2021.
The Office of Academic Affairs appreciates all those who have contributed to OAA’s reorganization thus far and looks forward to additional input as it fine-tunes its structure and operations.