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Search for Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement
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March 30, 2009
To: Campus Community
Over the last several months, I have called on the campus community to think in new ways about how we serve our students and other constituents. I’ve also stressed the need to improve our administration to better serve our faculty. I firmly believe that we must as a campus build a better organization with an eye toward creating a brighter future together once we emerge from this financial crisis.
To date, we have received more than 300 individual comments on our budget planning site alone, and we’ve heard from faculty, staff, students and others in many different ways and through many committees and task forces. I have been pleased with the high level of engagement and support of the entire university community. There have been many great ideas shared—many “out-of-the-box” thoughts and suggestions for building that future together. I am impressed with the creativity of the UMass Amherst community.
In this spirit, I want to share a plan for proceeding with the search for a permanent Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement that is different from standard procedure here but that I believe will give us the best chance to bring forward the right leadership for this post.
Since we have been engaged as a campus in broad discussions about reorganization, strategic planning, and resource allocation and reallocation, it has become clear to me that many people on campus have provided institutional leadership. It is also clear to me that there are people on campus who have the vision and commitment necessary to lead our efforts to enhance research and scholarly activity. There are many who share the view that supporting our faculty better in these areas will pay great dividends and are excited about the possibilities ahead.
Given this, I am launching a two-part search process for filling this critical position on our institutional leadership team. Today, in coordination with the Faculty Senate, I will name a search committee of faculty, staff, and students and charge this group with immediately launching an internal search for the next vice chancellor. This portion of our search will be open to our campus community only, and will call for nominations and applications through April 15. The committee will review these applicants and nominees, and forward to me a list of candidates for consideration. Following this, we will establish an open process for community input and comment, as well as appropriate open sessions for internal candidates.
If we are able through this process to find the right person to lead our research and scholarly support efforts, then we will move on finalizing this appointment. If we are unable to do this, then I will call on the committee to launch a national search immediately, with an eye toward bringing external candidates to campus during the summer.
Through this process, I believe we have the ability to move both quickly and effectively, and to get the right person for the position. I thank you for your continued engagement and support for UMass Amherst and look forward to a successful outcome to this critically important search.
Chancellor Robert C. Holub
