University of Hawaii President David Lassner is seeking approval to expand his duties to include those of chancellor of the flagship Manoa campus, a critical post that for two years has not been permanently filled.

In an email Thursday to university faculty, staff and students, Lassner said he’ll be recommending himself as an interim chancellor appointment to the Board of Regents at their monthly meeting next week, with a Sept. 1 start date and no additional compensation. He emphasized that he remains committed to filling the chancellor post.

Robert Bley-Vroman — previously dean of UH Manoa’s College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature — was approved as interim chancellor in August 2014, following the dismissal by Lassner of Tom Apple. (Lassner said at the time that he gave Apple an unsatisfactory performance rating because he was unable to address serious financial troubles, while Apple maintained he was forced out two years into his five-year appointment.)

Bley-Vroman’s interim term ends this month, and he has said he will return to a faculty position. He did not want an extension.

“Almost everyone expressed concern that this approach might signal back-pedaling on the commitment to hire a new chancellor for Manoa,” Lassner wrote in his email. “I can only assure you that I still firmly believe the president of the system and chancellor of Manoa are two different and necessary leadership positions. I remain absolutely committed to the search that is actively underway.”

That search began in April, when a 20-member advisory committee was announced to find candidates. Lassner said he expects to submit a recommendation to the regents for a permanent candidate during the fall semester, which begins later this month. The new chancellor, he said, would “hopefully begin in time for the spring 2017 semester.”

Confusing situation

Although it would be temporary, having Lassner hold both titles is likely to rankle some at UH Manoa who have been critical of a recent call by regents to revisit whether to have separate positions for the system president and the Manoa chancellor. The roles previously were separate until the 1980s, when they were combined. They were separated again in 2001.

The board did vote earlier this year to “affirm” the positions should remain separate, but it charged Lassner with implementing a plan to consolidate redundant services — such as in human resources, communications and capital improvements — to increase efficiencies at the Manoa campus and systemwide.

Lassner acknowledged some of the controversy, saying, “I realize this approach does not represent the preferred choice for some,” but “nearly everyone told me that this is no time for a placeholder interim chancellor.”

“This transitional leadership period is the time to begin working hard together to create a bold, relevant and strategic future for UH Manoa,” Lassner wrote. “It will require hard decisions that may challenge some past conventions and practices to launch Manoa on a path to even greater excellence as Hawaii’s sole research university.”

Asked for further comment, UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said, “It would be inappropriate to say anything more until the board takes a look and decides on the recommendation.”

UH Manoa epidemiology professor Bob Cooney, outgoing chairman of the Manoa Faculty Senate, called the situation confusing.

“Some aspects of it are positive. I think he’s correct in that we really need to sit down and rethink what Manoa is,” Cooney said. “Personally, I don’t have confidence in David Lassner being the one to do that because I don’t think he’s qualified. But I suspect there’s a feeling that, ‘Well, maybe it’s good, we’ll at least begin the conversation.’ I just hope that the faculty and the faculty senate will be intimately involved in shaping whatever comes out of this.”

Challenges ahead

Lassner had been the university’s longtime information technology chief before being tapped to lead the 10-campus UH system. He served as interim president for nearly a year until he emerged in mid-2014 as the leading candidate for the permanent position.

Cooney, who serves on the chancellor search advisory committee, said he believes Lassner’s proposal could negatively affect the search.

“I think this throws a monkey wrench in the whole process, because personally I would not want to come to a university as a chancellor in the middle of them trying to decide what direction they’re headed,” he said. “I think it’s going to make it very difficult.”

Cooney credited Bley- Vroman for being generally aligned with the faculty, but said his interim status made it challenging to effect real change.

“His heart was always in the right place, and philosophically I think he was pretty much aligned with us,” he said of Bley-Vroman. “But he didn’t seem to know how to turn that into action. I think the consensus was that he was very hesitant to really use the power that he had and to effect change and to really force some issues. And that’s probably not just an indictment of him, but anytime you have an interim, that’s a danger.”

Lassner also is recommending an interim appointment for the chief academic officer for the Manoa campus. He’s recommending Michael Bruno, UH Manoa’s vice chancellor for research, to be interim vice chancellor for academic affairs. Bruno would replace Reed Dasenbrock, who recently announced plans to return to teaching.

“Neither Michael nor I are under any illusion that four more-than-full-time jobs can simply be fulfilled by two people,” Lassner’s email said. “While we are not backfilling our permanent positions, we both are dedicated to lead Manoa through this transitional period.”