UH-Hilo gets feedback on plan to divide college

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct a quote by UH-Hilo Chancellor Don Straney.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct a quote by UH-Hilo Chancellor Don Straney.

The University of Hawaii at Hilo wants to split up its College of Arts and Sciences, an idea which has some faculty asking questions.

Chancellor Don Straney posted on his blog Tuesday an updated version of a proposal which calls to divide the College of Arts and Sciences into two separate units: the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Natural and Health Sciences.

Each new college would be led by a new dean and contain three divisions. Those divisions would be led by new division chairs, appointed from the teaching faculty. Other faculty would remain in their current departments which would become part of the divisions.

UH-Hilo administrators say reorganizing could help reverse the campus’ declining enrollment, eliminate administrative layers between its deans and departments and is hoped to be minimally disruptive on students and faculty.

The College of Arts and Sciences, which contains dozens of widely varying degree programs, is the largest on campus. It contains 144 faculty members.

“Our proposed reorganization creates college units that will be expected to manage retention and graduation of their students in an effective manner,” the updated proposal reads.

“Given that a majority of our funding now comes from tuition, stabilizing and rebuilding enrollment is essential to maintaining the comprehensive university we have labored to build over the decades. Reorganization must be viewed as a tactic for rebuilding enrollments and preserving programs and services.”

As proposed, a search for new interim deans would begin later this year and the restructure would take full effect — with permanent deans in place — by spring semester 2018.

During a town hall meeting Friday attended by about 50 faculty members, many voiced concerns. One attendee called the proposed restructure “bizarre” and thought reorganization would be best done including more of the UH-Hilo’s colleges in order to allow more like-minded programs to be clumped together. Another worried that the plan tasked too much responsibility on division chairs.

“I’m just concerned about the minimization of department chairs in this plan when they really are doing a lot of work,” one faculty member said.

“Putting us together with three other (very different) departments, I feel sorry for that person who has to be division chair of all of us,” said another faculty member who identified as being part of the marine science program.

“If you don’t have sufficient faculty buy in for this plan, how is it going to work?” another questioned.

Straney said in an email Friday the plan is still a draft — the Friday meeting was one of three scheduled during the next week to get more input from affected faculty.

Actual implementation is contingent on how soon administrators can create a final proposal, Straney said.

“There were some good ideas suggested at today’s town hall meeting and I am interested in hearing additional feedback from the faculty and staff that could improve the proposal,” Straney said in the email. “ … I hope we can identify interim deans before the end of the current semester.”

The plan would need approval from UH President David Lassner.

UH-Hilo has mulled reorganizing since at least last school year. Administrators initially were considering a larger-scale reorganization of departments within at least three of its six colleges. In September, they presented a more scaled-back plan — reorganizing just the College of Arts and Sciences — which they said is hoped to cause less disruption.

Administrators have said no faculty will lose jobs as a result of reorganization.

Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.