LU Provost proposes department changes

Lincoln University plans to reorganize its Academic Affairs division, Provost Said Sewell told faculty and staff in an email Friday.

“Consistent with the university’s academic strategic plan with its emphasis on external relationships, increased research and creative endeavors, and striving for academic excellence, Lincoln University is reorganizing both the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Professional Studies,” Sewell said in the email.

“To set the stage for this reorganization, Dr. Ruthi Sturdevant and Dr. Linda Bickel will be stepping down at the end of this academic year as deans of their respective colleges, and will exercise their options to return to the faculty as full-professors.”

Sewell said Lincoln in July “will launch national searches for the leadership of both colleges,” and the school has hired two people to act as interim leaders in the positions Sturdevant and Bickel will be leaving:

• Betty Parker-Smith, Ph.D., who is a past provost/vice president for Academic Affairs and interim president at Dillard University, New Orleans, as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences — the post Sturdevant currently holds.

• Joseph Simmons, Ph.D., LU professor emeritus and past LU provost/vice president for Academic Affairs, as interim dean of the College of Professional Studies and Graduate Studies — the job Bickel now holds.

“Both Drs. Simmons and Parker-Smith bring a wealth of experiences to these important positions,” Sewell said.

Additionally, he said, “Over the next few months, LU will begin to re-imagine the academic enterprise in order to meet an ever-changing world in higher education — from reviewing academic programs to revising our curriculum so that it is in line with the industries’ standards to ensuring that our students are employed in their career upon graduation.

“With the assistance of a management consulting firm, LU looks forward to incorporating faculty and staff input at this very exciting juncture.”

Sewell also is LU’s vice president for Academic Affairs and said, “I am assessing the structure of each of the colleges, and have redefined the leadership structure in the Academic Affairs division as noted as the responsibility of the vice president for Academic Affairs (in LU’s rules).

“The change in the leadership structure and the assessing of the college structure using an outside consultant, we believe, is in the best interest of our students, the university — specifically to better meet our priorities — and the taxpayers of Missouri.”

Last fall, Sewell’s proposal to launch a national search to fill Sturdevant’s and Bickel’s positions was challenged by members of the LU Faculty Senate.

At a Sept. 24 meeting, many of the faculty members applauded when one colleague asked, “If the faculty are not unhappy with the performance of our current dean, why are we changing?”

The Senate held an unusual, 75-minute closed meeting in early October, and some suggested the group would seek a “no confidence” vote about Sewell’s work.

However, at its Oct. 29 open meeting, the Faculty Senate adopted two resolutions aimed at improving communications with Sewell.

The Faculty Senate meets again Thursday with no indication so far that the new announcement will be part of the discussion.

Lincoln’s Rules and Regulations define the Faculty Senate as “a major advisory body to the (university) president.”

Its primary functions include initiating and participating in “formulating the general educational curriculum and policies of the university.”

The Faculty Senate is part of the university’s Shared Governance policy, but that policy doesn’t give the Senate automatic say in the appointment of deans and department heads.

The policy does require anonymous surveys to be taken of faculty members, to comment on deans’ and department heads’ work.

Sewell said, “These decisions were not decided by happenstance. We have spent the last two years carefully reviewing practices, developing an academic strategic plan, conducting academic program reviews and assessing functions in the division — all with the goal of strengthening the university and ensuring that we are good stewards of the public resources.

“Because we will be conducting national searches and we want the process to be fair (not giving an advantage to any internal candidate), we decided to appoint two seasoned ‘retired’ administrators with over 60 years of academic administrative experience to direct the work of the colleges while we conduct a national search.”

He said the two interim deans won’t be candidates for either of the two new positions.