New structure would help communication

A proposal is in the works that would have regional campus deans reporting directly to the provost.

“There are two lines of authority for a dean that runs a regional campus,” Provost Robert Frank said. “One line of authority is for academic issues, and that comes up to my office. The second line is administrative management that does all of the other things it takes to run a campus, and it goes to our vice president for regional development (Patricia Book).”

Book has been working on development with the regional campuses for four years. Review of the current system has brought up some questions about her role in communication between regional campus deans and the provost.

“It turns out it’s very complicated for a dean to have to touch base with two different people to make a decision, and very few things they do are in clearly in one of those two areas, almost everything blurs,” Frank said. “They’d have to talk to me and Book and go back and forth. In order to simplify their lives, we’re simply proposing that Book will not be in that line and that (the deans) will come directly to me.”

The new structure should make things easier for regional campus deans.

“Do they really need an intermediary or not?” Book asked.

She said the regional campus deans don’t need as much management and that they are strong deans with strong leadership.

Frank said the change would not affect students.

“It’s a fairly small change, besides the deans and Dr. Book and myself, it would have no impact on anyone else,” he said. “It’s a simplification of how we work and how we go through issues.”

“We have a proposal, and we have begun a series of conversations that we’re pretty far into now,” Frank said. “We made a recommendation to the president, and he has to decide if we can implement (the change) or not.”

Contact regional campuses reporter Julianna Frantz at [email protected].

Contact academic affairs reporter Kristine Gill at [email protected].