Regents OK Itano as interim UH VP for academic affairs

Joanne Itano has been named the University of Hawaii’s interim executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, the second-highest post under the president, at an annual salary of $225,000.

The Board of Regents approved Itano’s position for one year beginning Dec. 31 at its monthly meeting last week on Maui. She will replace Linda Johnsrud, who is stepping down at the end of the year to become associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Texas system.

Itano is the associate vice president for academic affairs under Johnsrud’s office and earns $163,488 now. She also is an associate professor in the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene at UH-Manoa.

Itano, who joined UH in 1976, holds a doctorate in educational psychology from Manoa. She’s served in several administrative roles in the past, including as director of academic support services for the UH community colleges and director of academic affairs and academic planning and policy for the UH system.

A regents committee privately discussed a salary range for the next executive vice president for academic affairs. Johnsrud earns $290,928, higher than the average $275,000 that a chief academic affairs officer and provost at a university similar to UH earns, according to the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

A native of Buffalo City, Wis., Johnsrud held positions at universities and colleges in Illinois, Oregon and Iowa before joining UH-Manoa in 1988 as an assistant professor in higher education administration. She has served as chief academic officer for the UH system since 2005.

"I love Hawaii, I love the university and I cannot believe that it has been 25 years. The University of Hawaii has been very good to me. I work with so many top-notch professionals. I’m not sure which makes it more difficult to leave — the place or the people," Johnsrud said in a statement. "But it came down to family — my daughter and granddaughters live in Texas."

Johnsrud was considered to be a leading candidate for UH president given her seniority and tenure at the university.

After former President M.R.C. Greenwood stepped down in August, the regents began searching for an interim replacement who could hit the ground running.

David Lassner, UH’s chief information officer, was named interim president in July while a search committee has been tasked to fill the post by next spring or summer.