Mike Foley | University Advancement | 7 May 2008

In their monthly question-and-answer forum on May 5, BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright [pictured at left] and other members of the President's Council discussed, among other issues, whether budget tightening would affect faculty professional development, the roles of faculty research and scholarship, and the status of reorganizing the administration [1].

Dr. Max Checketts, the new Vice President of Academic Affairs, who noted he has not had enough time to study the issues, pointed out that increasing travel costs present a challenge throughout the Church; but added, "I don't think the expectation of the university is that faculty should somehow bear the burden of their professional development."

Checketts suggested the university might have to get more creative in meeting these challenges. For example, "in certain cases we should do is more training the trainer travel," he said, where participants come back to campus and train a larger group. "That way you can extend some of the benefits."

"That doesn't work so well with everyone. You might be the only faculty person in your discipline, so I fully expect we'll continue to send all of the faculty to at least one conference; but the expectation is, if you're going to two, that one we'll really have to look at."

Checketts also asked the faculty to pass creative suggestions to their respective deans. "We want to make sure we're helping the faculty develop themselves. That's very, very important. We're committed to that," he said. "It's the how that we're trying to research."

Asked about the accrediting team's expectations of faculty research and teaching loads, Checketts responded by suggesting the focus on research should probably shift more toward scholarship. He suggested one definition of the latter "is research, but I think it's really important we recognize our role in teaching."

For example, he asked those in the forum why they thought the Church had discontinued its profitable hospital system. "The reason why is because the hospitals were not central to the mission of the Church...and they favored only a very few people. Continued investment in education, on the other hand, "is central to the mission of the Church," Checketts said.

"If you go out in the Church at large, it's obvious where the leadership of the Church comes from: It comes from the schools that the Church invests in. You have to recognize that our primary role is teaching students, and by association, so they can be leaders. We need to make sure we never lose sight of our primary role as an institution."

"Research is a vital role in terms of helping faculty to be well developed and effective as teachers," Checketts continued, adding he has not had enough time yet to determine if the balance at BYU-Hawaii is in proportion.

President Wheelwright said he has challenged Checketts to determine "what, if any, modifications need to be made"; but stressed that scholarship is more than publishing articles.

In response to several questions about the Design Team's recommendations to reorganize the President's Council, President Wheelwright noted again that Napua Baker, Vice President of University Advancement, is retiring at the end of June; and that Isileli Kongaika, Vice President of Student Affairs, has decided to take another position within his current function rather than seek reappointment in the broader, proposed position.

He also said the deadline in the search for the two proposed vice president positions closed May 5, and "the last time I checked we had nine or 10 applicants — most of them extremely well qualified."

"Some of them are from inside the school; some of them are from people who've been at the school before who are no longer here — at least not right now; some of them were suggested by people outside the school, who know the school; we had several people apply because others encouraged them; and still others are people who just saw the announcement. It's a very broad range, and we think we have many excellent candidates"

President Wheelwright also explained that the President's Council will "guide the search process. We'll be interviewing the people. We'll be doing reference checks...and we'll decide who we think is the best qualified and the most appropriate person at this time, given where we are. Our intent is by early June we'll have the President's Council complete for going forward."

Some of the other questions asked during the forum included:

• Can students who leave campus for a few days between terms get a partial refund on their meal plans? Michael Bliss, Vice President of Administrative Services, explained that meal plans are sold on a term-by-term basis. "We buy the food thinking that people are going to be there. We can't give refunds for a few days here and there."

President Wheelwright added the meal plan is structured as a "fixed cost. At some point we may decide to change that, but we haven't decided to change it yet."

• Why is the library so noisy? Checketts replied that the library has plans to "realign where some of the group study areas are, and I think that will have an impact... We're also going to have to do a better job of educating the students to be more considerate of one another."

President Wheelwright added that in the longer term, "we probably need two-or-three times the study space," and suggested it be divided into quiet, interactive group, and informal areas. "We just need to be a little more systematic in our planning to make sure we have the right mix."

• What does a BYUH student have to do to get into Harvard? President Wheelwright, a former Harvard Business School professor and administrator, said, "The best thing is to do really well as a student. Harvard generally cares about three kinds of things: Academic success, that is, can you effectively use the education they offer; diversity, or what you bring to your classmates and the alumni pool that would be a distinctive contribution and value; and leadership — what difference, once you get your education, will you make out in the world. They want people who are actually going to change the world."

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[2]:: For a compilation of previous questions and answers [3]