Speaking before the group Oct. 16, Headrick presented to senators an update on his academic plan and the direction in which he sees the university going.

While the decision has been made to merge the faculties of Arts and Letters, Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Social Sciences into a College of Arts and Sciences, he noted, there still are issues to be resolved.

Headrick said these include how the university will merge and integrate the financial structures of the three faculties, as well as the administrative staffs of the three dean's offices. He told senators that administrative changes have been put in place to ease the transition. Those changes include the reorganization of the Office of the Provost and the appointment of two committees that will guide the formation of the College of Arts and Sciences and the search for its dean.

On another matter, Headrick noted that the university does not have adequate academic information systems that would allow it to access data and use it to make decisions. Setting up those systems, and performance measures, are going to be a major focus this year, and "many of you are going to hear a good bit of this as we work with the dean's offices," Headrick said.

He added that academic units are going to be asked to develop individual academic plans, which will be used to guide faculty hires and the allocation of resources. "The key leverage in the system will be how we use resources as faculty retire and leave," a process that Headrick said he expects to be "contentious."

The provost told senators that he hopes to have the new dean of arts and sciences in place by June, "faster if possible," and indicated that the new dean probably will occupy offices in Park Hall, if space permits. Asked what he perceives to be the "mood" of the faculty, Headrick said, "We can make this a much stronger university than it now is...and attitudes will perk up a little bit...if we do things greatly and intelligently, and if we do them together."

In other business, the PSS received the first draft of a proposal to develop an ongoing university-wide training program for employees who have supervisory responsibilities. "We have proposed a model that would allow individuals who are new or who have been promoted to move forward and enhance their (supervisory) skills," said PSS Chair Michael Stokes. He asked senators to review the proposal draft and forward their feedback to him.