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Restructuring the Administration to Increase Focus on IT, External Relations
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July 29, 2010
To the Campus Community:
I am writing to share with you plans to restructure the university's central administrative offices to increase our focus on the vitally important areas of information technology and external relations in the coming year.
As part of these changes, John Dubach, who has served as chief information officer as well as special assistant to the chancellor, will focus on his lead IT role and will no longer perform a number of his administrative support duties for the central administration.
The executive vice chancellor role that has been held by Tom Milligan will also become a more focused position, with more emphasis on external relations and a reduction of administrative support for the central administration. The position, for which there is an ongoing national search following Tom's announcement that he will leave UMass this summer, will be filled as the vice chancellor for university relations to reflect this change. Amy Glynn, who has played a key role in the formation of the University Relations team, will serve as interim vice chancellor while the search proceeds. Amy, who is currently associate vice chancellor for communications and marketing, has been integral in our successful student recruitment initiatives and the ongoing branding campaign.
Both the Information Technology and University Relations roles will remain part of my executive management team, but the direct administrative responsibilities in the central administrative structure for these positions will be reduced. These changes, which will go into effect Aug. 1, are designed to increase the focus on IT and external relations efforts at a crucial time for the university in both these areas. In early September, Mary Jane Quinn, who has served the campus in a variety of capacities for almost 40 years, most recently as special assistant to the chancellor, will retire from the university.
To fill the administrative gap created through these changes, Todd Diacon, a noted historian and administrator, and a colleague of mine from the University of Tennessee, will join UMass Amherst Aug. 1. Todd will serve as the deputy chancellor, taking on the administrative and support roles that John Dubach and Tom Milligan filled. He will also serve as a senior member of my staff.
Todd, who earned both his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville since 1993 in a variety of capacities. He served as vice provost of academic operations with me at UT, and before that served as department chair in history at the Knoxville campus, the flagship public research university in Tennessee. Most recently he served in the UT System as the executive director of academic assessment. His academic focus is on Brazilian history, and he has been engaged in international and Latin American Studies programs and issues throughout his career.
I appreciate the hard work and dedication that John, Tom and Mary Jane have shown, and their service to the university. In the coming years, the complexity and challenges facing our campus in the areas of IT and external relations will require even greater focus and energy. By making these moves, I believe we are even better positioned to move forward.
Adding Todd to our central leadership team will help us achieve our ambitious goal to be counted among the very best public research universities in the nation. Todd has demonstrated significant administrative skill and a keen understanding of academic priorities. He will bring valuable insights, great values and the ability to help our university continue the progress we've made over the last two years. Todd has extensive experience working with state legislators and public officials, and great insight into how an administration can and should support the faculty, staff and students of the university, even in times of limited resources, and I look forward to him joining our efforts.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Holub
Chancellor
