Chancellor Steinmetz Talks With Campus Faculty About his First 97 Days

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Chancellor Steinmetz following his meeting with members of the Department of Nursing faculty.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas Chancellor Joseph E. Steinmetz spoke to the Campus Faculty Wednesday as part of Faculty Appreciation Week.

It was the chancellor’s first meeting with the group, but not his first time talking with members of the faculty. In the past three months he has met with 60 academic department heads and met with 47 academic departments. He is the process of meeting with 75 academic departments and a number of centers at the U of A.

Those meetings are part of his intensive effort to learn everything he can about the University of Arkansas from what he calls “the ground level.” Part of that is hearing from the faculty about their “strengths, challenges, and goals.”

“Everyone I meet with wants to get better, wants to shine on a national stage,” Steinmetz told Campus Faculty. “No one is content with the status quo. This is honestly the hardest working faculty I have ever seen. Your attitude is tremendous, heartwarming and absolutely contagious.”

The chancellor said the biggest challenge ahead will be to set institutional priorities that can be achieved with limited resources and no new funding from the state.

He outlined the process that will develop a set of those priorities by the Fall 2016 semester, built on consensus, that focus on research and discovery, teaching and learning, outreach and engagement.

Finding a new permanent provost is a top priority, and he plans to have that position filled by January. In addition three dean positions also need to be filled. Beyond those needs he said any academic plan will need to address enrollment issues such as growth, the ratio of in-state and out-of-state students and the need to increase the percentage of graduate students.  

Campus diversity is another priority, Steinmetz said, with increased funding for need-based scholarships and programs aimed at underrepresented student populations. He said that it will also be important to increase diversity in hiring both faculty and staff at the U of A.

The chancellor also said that the academic plan will need to address hiring more faculty and providing the resources they need to fulfill their potential as teachers, researchers and scholars.

Steinmetz responded to several questions from faculty members about state funding by saying an important part of the university’s outreach mission is to explain the value of the U of A to legislators, the business community and the people of the state.

“We have to explain what we do for the state,” he said. “We have to earn the respect of the people.”