Cougar news services
"The uncertainty is quickly coming to an end."
That's UH System Board of Regents Chairwoman Wilhelmina "Beth" Morian's assessment of the April 1 board announcement for administrative reorganization of the UH System.
After more than a year and a half of studies, task forces, committees, surveys and reports, the regents will finally cast their votes and choose between two options -- collapsing the jobs of UH president and UH System chancellor, better known as the "single chief executive model," or a "modified and improved" System administration that would theoretically eliminate some of the duplication of services that exist in the present System administration.
The board is expected to conduct a public vote and announce its chosen course of action shortly after 8 a.m. Monday in the UH Conrad Hilton Hotel's Shamrock Room.
The board's decision will have far-reaching effects for each of the four campuses in the System.
"At that meeting, we will communicate both the decision and its most obvious implications for Systemwide operations, and (we) will answer any questions we can," Morian said.
Members of the UH community are invited to take part in an "open forum" after the board's voting session from 10 a.m. until approximately 11:30 a.m. in the Shamrock Room.
UH interim President Glenn Goerke will lead the forum discussion.
The board has similar meetings scheduled for the other three UH System campuses on Monday and Tuesday.
Morian, as she did during the March 12 Board of Regents meeting, tried to dispel the fears at UH-Downtown, UH-Clear Lake and UH-Victoria that the regents' decision might in some way change the missions of those universities.
"I want to repeat that from the beginning, we had only one goal. We want a structure that will best position all of our universities to better serve our students and our state," Morian said. "We will take no action that will diminish any of our institutions' missions."
The regents' decision will be one of the most significant decisions made by a UH System Board of Regents in years. The reorganization will directly impact each of the four universities in the System well into the 21st century.
Morian said, "No matter what the final structure looks like, I can guarantee that `business as usual' no longer exits. There are changes already under way in how we manage our organization, and there will be more changes over the next year to 18 months as we move forward with implementing our final structure and recruiting our leadership team."
Morian was referring to the planned national searches for a UH president and a UH System chancellor. Both Goerke and interim UH Chancellor William P. Hobby are scheduled to step down in August 1997.
While a national search is already under way to find a new permanent president for UH-Clear Lake, the searches for UH president and UH System chancellor have been on hold pending the outcome of the organizational review.
After next Monday's vote, the Board of Regents will know whether it is looking for one person to fill the role of "chancident," or whether it is looking for two people to fill the existing roles of UH president and UH System chancellor.