A Hitch in her get along: New VP still has dirty laundry at old job

UVSC's new VP of academic affairs Liz Hitch has barely unpacked her boxes, but a lingering legal issue still hangs over her head at her old job in the Badger State.

UVSC official accused of discrimination
(Daily Herald, September 17 2007)

You gotta love the Daily Herald making it seem like this is relevant by slapping on a headline like that. The incident in question actually happened back in 2006 when Hitch was the provost at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

When Hitch was making her first visit to UVSC she was asked in a public forum about the incident and she seemed quite upfront and honest about what happened, saying that most of the blame was on the school's poor hiring procedures. And even though she was censured by the school's faculty senate she offered to give the telephone number of the senate president to those interested in getting the full story. Most profs we talked to after the incident seemed satisfied.

But Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development thinks the plaintiff in the case has some probable cause for a discrimination lawsuit.

Sederburg talks about transition, hands out sandwiches

UVSC President Bill Sederburg, master of the PowerPoint, invited the campus community to break bread and have a good ol' rap session about the school's impending move to university status. For the past few years Big Bill has used "Sandwiches with Sederburg" as a way of presenting his expectations for the following year.

And it seems next year's theme will be hiring. Sederburg laid out his plan for the new influx of cash that came with SB 70, and it looks like the biggest chunk will go to hiring 90 new employees, about 40 of which will be new full-time faculty.

Sederburg said one of the school's weaknesses when it comes to assessment has always been its dependence on adjunct faculty. He anticipates that these new hires will help those full-time to adjunct ratios and possibly reduce teaching loads across the board.

Sederburg also committed to keeping enrollment open and promised that the school "will not move away from its roots" as the transition to university is made. One must assume he was talking about the often maligned trades program that the school was original built on. The official talking points from the school have always been that trades will be around and that UVU would "continue to work with Mountainlands Apllied Technology Center" to make sure the program runs efficient.

In other words, the trades program will probably move piece by piece to MATC as UVSC matures into UVU. Particularly as Sederburg tries to reduce the dependence on adjunct faculty and tries to increase the number of faculty members with terminal degrees.

The administration may say they are committed to trades, but The Pipeline thinks that in 5 years trades will be reduced to only the most technical degrees. There is a reason some staff call it "Baloney with Bill" instead of "Sandwiches with Sederburg".

UVSC shares the strategic direction for next year

An e-mail went out to employees today inviting all to a few upcoming Strategic Directions forums next week. Attached with the e-mail was a rough draft of next year's strategies, which we include here:

Strategic directions are annually refined to guide the institution through its planning and budgeting processes. The first three strategic
directions outline the dominant focus for the upcoming fiscal year. The final three strategic directions address other operational needs.


Strategic Direction One: Transition to Utah Valley University and establish long-term university goals
-Define and promote the role of a regional state university and the mission and brand of UVU
-Develop and implement master’s degrees in education, nursing, and business
-Establish academic/scholarly initiatives for collaboration with peer institutions
-Establish governmental/private sector partnerships for developing the region
-Encourage alumni participation by strengthening the unique identity of UVU
-Review and align academic policies with peer institutions


Strategic Direction Two: Provide a distinctive educational opportunity centered on students, scholarship, and regional
engagement
-Expand resources to support professional, global, ethical, and scholarly engagement among students, faculty, and staff
-Develop and maintain programs and services that demonstrate and enhance the importance of teaching, learning, and scholarship
-Solicit feedback on faculty and staff student-centeredness and effectiveness in regional outreach
-Identify, build and promote centers of excellence to encourage engaged scholarship
-Develop and utilize distance education, off-campus programs, and satellite campuses more fully

Strategic Direction Three: Provide programs and services to attract, recruit, and retain students with differing backgrounds,
interests, and preparedness levels
-Promote campus-wide initiatives that foster student success and retention
-Understand the interest in and perception of the learning experience at UVSC (UVU) among high school students
-Improve recruitment and retention of women, under-represented groups, and other non-traditional students
-Develop and market programs to attract and retain high-achieving students
-Define and promote the “opportunity mission” of UVSC (UVU)

Strategic Direction Four: Manage and expand resources to support UVSC’s (UVU’s) mission and future growth
-Continue to nurture the expanding role of community and private support
-Motivate community and alumni to provide resources to support excellence among students, faculty, and staff
-Pursue the implementation of the campus facilities and information technology master plans
-Assess student, staff, and faculty satisfaction with campus facilities and their learning/working conditions

Strategic Direction Five: Attract, retain, and develop exceptional student-centered faculty and staff consistent with UVSC’s
(UVU’s) focus on students, scholarship and regional engagement
-Continue to implement a competitive market compensation plan
-Increase staff in proportion to faculty increases to provide adequate support
-Support and encourage professional development and scholarly work
-Fortify and promote endowed chairs and other magnet scholar programs
-Enhance training programs for faculty and staff

Strategic Direction Six: Foster a culture of professionalism, collaboration, communication, and transparency
-Emphasize a commitment to professionalism, respect, and civil discourse appropriate to a public university
-Refine the PBA process to foster inter-disciplinary collaboration and improve measures of accountability and involvement
-Increase transparency in campus processes to improve understanding of decision making
-Improve external communications regarding UVSC’s (UVU’s) quality of student, faculty, staff, and systems
-Improve communication processes and systems on campus

UVSC faculty voice their opinion on VP hire

E-mails are piling up in UVSC faculty inboxes lately, and they aren't forwarding the latest funny movie on YouTube. Instead faculty are buzzing over President Bill Sederburg's upcoming hiring
of a new VP of Academic Affairs. Here is the one e-mail that is getting the most attention:

Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 12:56:21 -0700
Subject: Re: VPAA Search, serious concerns about the process and criteria
Dear President Sederberg,

Yesterday I sent you my email comment about Bill Evenson as the most qualified candidate, in my opinion, for the position.

Your message this morning laying out the criteria you intend to employ as you make the final decision leaves me wondering about the criteria I had in mind as I read the vitae of the candidates and listened to their presentations.

You noted the following: "The first is the candidate's concurrence with the mutually-developed institutional mission and vision identified through the Strategic Planning Process, PBA process, master plans, and institutional work plans. The second is the candidate's compatibility and partnership with our institutional leadership team. Finally, given the scope and amount of work facing UVSC and Academic Affairs, the candidate's ability to provide the dynamic, energetic leadership required."

As a faculty member for whom this appointment is crucial (as I teach and do research and build academic programs through curriculum and hiring -- all directly affected by this Vice President), I have a few thoughts that I hope will expand your set of criteria:

1. What is the candidate's experience with academic freedom? Does the candidate have a record of dealing with difficult academic freedom issues? Can the candidate speak with depth and insight about academic freedom? In terms of two of the candidates rather tepid responses to questions about academic freedom, and in light of Bill Evenson's robust discussion of the issue and his experience with and active membership in the AAUP, he is the clear choice by this criterium.

2. Is the candidate a scholar engaged in research in his or her discipline? Was the Ph.D. a means to a scholarly or to an administrative end? Does he or she understand what it is faculty members do? What is the scholarly record? Is the candidate equally interested in working as a professor in a discipline and in working in administration? Did the candidate emphasize this kind of academic work in his or her
presentation? Bill Evenson is far above the other two candidates in this area.

3. Can the candidate relate well with fellow faculty members (I'm phrasing this differently from your "dynamic, energetic leadership" on purpose, to indicate that university faculty see this issue through a very different lens.) Another way of asking this is whether the candidate has the academic/scholarly experience to lead a faculty of increasing intellectual ability or whether the candidate will be at a
lower academic level than the faculty he or she is required to lead and thus always at a disadvantage. Does the candidate read widely inside and outside his or her discipline (and I'm not talking about books about leadership). Again, no question but that Bill Evenson is the better candidate.

4. Does your sense for the "candidate's compatibility and partnership with our institutional leadership team" take into account the Deans of HASS, Science and Health, General Academics, Business, etc. -- the Academic Deans? Does it take into account the Chairs of all the academic departments? If you were to ask these Deans and Department Chairs (and they are certainly critical parts of the "institutional leadership team") which of the three candidates was most compatible with them, you
would find overwhelming support for Bill Evenson.

5. Will the candidate bring skills into the administration that are different from the ones already present? Will he or she broaden the scope of the administration or simply add more of what we already have? It seems to me that our current strengths are in reaching out to our legislators and to the public. Will the new VPAA be able to complement that with outreach to other academic vice presidents at the U of U and
USU, to the strictly academic constituency that responds best to the speech and arguments and demeanor of a fellow scholar and teacher? Candidates Hitch and Hanks have good skill, but they seem to overlap largely with those already present on campus. Bill Evenson has many of those skills himself, and also the important academic skills that will represent us well in the company of other academic vice presidents.

Thank you for considering these thoughts. I'm sending them also to many of our colleagues across campus, hoping there will be the kind of continuing discussion that will bring us the best possible VPAA.

all the best,
Scott Abbott

Clearly Big Bill's e-mail from earlier in the day struck a chord with Abbott and other faculty members...and perhaps it was a line like this "When the decision is announced, I ask everyone to rally around whomever I select." that rubbed them the wrong way.

This is where it gets surreal. Monday morning on nearly every bulletin board on campus you could find a cartoon featuring Sederburg in a track suit with the message "Follow Your Leader". There are some different versions of this poster...all with VPs like Cory Duckworth, Val Peterson, and Val Hale....all with the same "Follow Your Leader" message.

If you get a little Orwellian shudder going up and down your spine, that is totally normal. Just take another swig of Victory Vodka and throw Brad Cook's legacy down the memory hole.

So far so good

As the short legislative session rolls along it appears UVSC's push for university status is gathering momentum. On Friday the senate voted 29-0 in favor of SB 70 which paves the way for UVSC to upgrade to a level II institution. The bill will get one last floor read before heading to the house, where it might facing some tougher challenges.

The Pipeline caught up with Bill Sederburg on Thursday morning and he gave every indication that he was confident of the senate vote, and optimistic about the house. His righthand man Jared Sumsion said that they are begining the process of identifying their proponents, marking these legislators with a UV pin if they have their vote.

Of course all of this activity is happening right in the middle of a crucial hire for the college, as Sederburg looks to fill Brad Cook's Academic VP position. This will most likely be the biggest personel decision of his tenure, and will greatly shape the future of the institution as it progresses into a new role within the state.

Friday morning Big Bill sent out this e-mail to employees.

Updated information on Search for Vice President for Academic Affairs



I want to thank everyone who has been involved in the search for Vice President for Academic Affairs . The search committee under the excellent leadership of Numsiri Kunakemakorn and Ian Wilson have provided three excellent candidates for final consideration. I have been very impressed with each person.



Yesterday, I met with the search committee, the vice presidents, the deans, and the Board of Trustees; reviewed the written comments from the open forums; and responded to many e-mails. Additionally, I have reviewed the candidates' qualifications with a variety of people and have done extensive reference checking. I am continuing to talk with others throughout the state and nation who know the candidates and can provide additional input.



You should know that three variables will drive my final decision. The first is the candidate's concurrence with the mutually-developed institutional mission and vision identified through the Strategic Planning Process, PBA process, master plans, and institutional work plans. The second is the candidate's compatibility and partnership with our institutional leadership team. Finally, given the scope and amount of work facing UVSC and Academic Affairs, the candidate's ability to provide the dynamic, energetic leadership required.



I will be out of town making a presentation and will not return until mid next week. Thus, I may not have my final decision ready for announcement until late next week. As this is an important decision, I appreciate your patience during this review and decision-making process.



When the decision is announced, I ask everyone to rally around whomever I select. The committee has presented us with three excellent candidates; it is a fun decision to make.

Sederburg gives short list for new V.P.

UVSC President William Sederburg has tipped his hand and shown us all his final candidates for the VP of academics spot vacated by Brad Cook. An e-mail went out to employees this morning with the names of the three candidates, their bio information, and times of various meet-and-greets.

The bios are included below:

Dr. Elizabeth J. Hitch

Liz Hitch came to the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse (UW-L) in July 2002 as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs after serving for seven years as Dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois. She served as Interim Chancellor for UW-L from July 1, 2006, to February 1, 2007. Previous to her work at Eastern, she served for 15 years as a faculty member in the Department of Environmental Studies (achieving tenure and rank of full professor) at Central Michigan University. At CMU, she also held positions as Director of Teacher Education; and Associate Dean of the School of Education, Health and Human Services. Before entering the faculty ranks at CMU, she was Manager of Instruction Design in the School of Medicine at The University of Michigan. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Human Ecology from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from The University of Michigan.


Dr. Bill Evenson

Bill Evenson has been a university administrator for 11, an administrator at Utah Valley State College for 3 years, and a faculty member for 37 years, most of which he has been deeply involved in teaching and research in his field of physics. He is currently Associate Dean of Science & Health and Professor of Physics at UVSC, where he also led the College General Education Committee for the past two years. He was Interim Associate Vice President for Scholarship and Outreach in 2004-05. He was Professor of Physics at Brigham Young University for 34 years and served there as Associate Academic Vice President in charge of General Education, Honors, Continuing Education, Religious Education, the BYU Jerusalem Center (overseeing the establishment of programs there when the new building was first occupied), and with shared responsibility for international programs. He was also Dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and Dean of General Education. One of his strengths as an administrator has been the ability to work effectively with all constituencies – students, staff, faculty, advisors, and administration – in a collegial relationship to strengthen the institution and solve problems as they have arisen.

Evenson received his Ph.D. in theoretical condensed matter physics from Iowa State University in 1968, and B.S. in physics from Brigham Young University in 1965. He was an NSF postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania with J. R. Schrieffer. His physics research now deals mainly with studies of surfaces, nanostructures, defects in materials, and inverse problems in statistical physics. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar (research) at University of Konstanz, Germany, for 1998-99. He has had other visiting appointments at University of Hawaii and Oregon State University, and he was George and Caroline Arfken Physics Scholar in Residence at Miami University (Ohio) in November, 2002. He continues his research in physics and work in history of physics along with his current administrative position. He has published approximately 95 papers and one book in physics.

Evenson is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).and has been an officer for many years of the APS Forum on History of Physics and the APS Four Corners Section. He was editor of History of Physics Newsletter for 6½ years from 1997 to 2003. He is a current member of the Editorial Board of the journal Physics in Perspective. His long-standing interest in the history of physics continues in parallel with other activities in the physics community: founding chair of the APS Four Corners Section, where he instituted and promoted a strong focus on student participation and a successful program of public outreach lectures connected to the annual section meeting; currently Chair-Elect of the 3,500-member Forum on History of Physics; APS Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) from 2001 through 2003.

He has active collaborations with scientists in Germany, China, and several universities in USA. He is Chair of the Executive Committee for International Conferences on Hyperfine Interactions and Nuclear Quadrupole Interactions (2004-present). He was on the Program and Organizing Committees for the 13th International Conference on Hyperfine Interactions, Bonn, Germany, August 2004, and he chaired the Program and Organizing Committees for the 12th International Conference on Hyperfine Interactions, Park City, Utah, August 2001. He participated in the Hydrogen Initiative Workshop Panel of POPA in San Francisco, December 5-7, 2003, writing one of four major sections of the report on research required for hydrogen energy development. He currently shares an NSF grant focused on undergraduate research experience with a colleague at Northern Kentucky University that now involves two UVSC physics majors and one other faculty member.

Evenson published a small book dealing with science and religion at the end of 2005: Mormonism and Evolution: The Authoritative LDS Statements, William E. Evenson and Duane E. Jeffery (Kofford Books, Salt Lake City, 2005).


Dr. Steven H. Hanks


Dr. Steven H. Hanks is Vice Provost at Utah State University. He began his academic career teaching at Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University). He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Utah, specializing in the areas of Business Strategy and Human Resource Management. He joined the faculty at Utah State University in 1988 where he has taught extensively at the graduate and undergraduate levels, courses related to strategic management, global business, applied research, and entrepreneurship. His research has centered on issues related to strategy, structure and leadership in emerging business ventures and his work has been published in the Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice, the Journal of Small Business Management, as well as other journals, reports and conference proceedings.

In addition to his faculty roles, Dr. Hanks has carried numerous administrative assignments, including service as Director of the Utah State University Small Business Institute, Associate Dean in the College of Business, Faculty Senate President, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Director of Distance Business Programs. During the 2001-2002 school year, Dr. Hanks was on assignment in the West Bank where he served as Dean of the Faculty of Administrative and Financial Sciences at the Arab American University in Jenin. In his present role as Vice Provost, Dr. Hanks carries a broad portfolio of assignments related to international and academic affairs. He is familiar with critical issues in higher education in the State of Utah and the Utah System of Higher Education, serving as point person for USU in communications with the Commissioners Office and the State Board of Regents in areas related to academic affairs.