UH president to also serve as interim chancellor
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
UH President David Lassner, pictured in January, had recommended himself to replace outgoing interim Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman, whose appointment ends this month.
The University of Hawaii Board of Regents today approved UH President David Lassner to be interim chancellor of the Manoa campus over objections from some student and faculty that argued the two positions should be kept separate.
Lassner had recommended himself to replace outgoing interim Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman, whose appointment ends this month. Bley-Vroman, formerly dean of the College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature, did not want an extension and will return to a faculty position.
In making the recommendation, Lassner emphasized that he’s committed to continuing the search underway for a permanent chancellor. He said he hopes to have a new chancellor “ideally” for the start of the spring semester next year.
“I made this recommendation only in the interest of advancing UH Manoa as quickly as possible on some critical priorities,” Lassner said. “It will then be handed off to the permanent chancellor.”
The board voted 12-2 to approve the appointment, which is effective Sept. 1, with no additional compensation for the added duties. (As president, Lassner earns a $375,000 annual base salary. He received a positive annual performance evaluation from the board today, but regents did not consider a salary adjustment at Lassner’s request.)
“It’s not that we don’t like David,” associate professor Marguerite Butler, chairwoman of the Manoa Faculty Senate, told the regents ahead of the vote. “But there are certain, important characteristics that are required in order for success here. They have to be an academic, they have to truly understand the culture of the institution. … This is not the job for a CEO. This is also not the place to have on-the-job training.”
Regent Jeffrey Portnoy, who along with regent Wayne Higaki voted against the appointment, said that he’s “philosophically opposed” to combing the positions of president and chancellor, even on a short-term basis.
“I believe that the president’s job is to take care of the system, and that each of the community colleges and other institutions require and deserve their own chancellors,” Portnoy said. “I think the challenges facing Manoa as well as the challenges facing the system require two separate individuals.”
The roles previously were separate until the 1980s, when they were combined. They were separated again in 2001.
4 responses to “UH president to also serve as interim chancellor”
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I guess this is one way of saving the University money. They shouldn’t have split them up in the first place.
Nonsense! Too much power and responsibilities for one person. David Lassner should ask himself whether his personal agenda influenced his impulse to volunteer.
Marguerite, you didn’t like the experienced VCAA. Now you don’t want the inexperienced President???? What do you want? The position for yourself? What are”some of the things” you want consideration of? It is good of Lassner to volunteer to do the job! Yes, time to send Jeff Carroll back too! Now he’s the one who needs sensitivity training! Though not the kind the English department PC folks want! Looks like some useful changes are coming to UH after all!
This issue is a bore to the general public. Let the UH deal with its own problems.