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Edwards highlights leadership lessons

Candidate cites his work with budget, faculty concerns

By Dusti Rhodes
The Daily Cougar

The problems facing public universities today might make people wonder why anyone would want to take a job finding the solutions.

For Richard Edwards, a candidate for UH provost, the answer is fairly simple. "It's partially because I'm crazy," Edwards said Wednesday during a forum at the University Hilton.

Edwards, a professor of social work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the third provost candidate to visit UH, laid out what he sees as some of the key issues facing UH and higher education: student excellence, an increasing number of college applicants, faculty retirement and diminishing legislative support.

"I have looked at a number of universities, and on the low end about 35 percent of their faculty are projected to reach retirement age in the next 5 to 7 years. (At) other institutions, it was over 55 percent," Edwards said.

Faculty hiring in the wake of retirement will lead to salary compression, he said.

A number of questions from the audience dealt with shared governance and the allocation of funds. Although departments may have different missions, Edwards said, "there are a lot of opportunities for thinking creatively about how to work together."

He said although he is committed to faculty input on the selection of leaders for departments and colleges, there are dangers in leaving those decisions in the wrong hands.

"I think one has to factor out those things that are a prerogative of faculty and those things that are the prerogatives of administrators," Edwards said, adding that he believes chairs and deans should be subject to periodic, thorough reviews with faculty and student input.

Edwards also discussed his handling of salary gender gaps at UNC. As interim provost there in 2000-01, he was able to provide equal pay to three women who were not receiving as much as male co-workers who had been hired at the same time.

He also divided positions at UNC as part of an initiative to attract faculty members with spouses in need of work.

Edwards said when he became interim provost, he was asked to fill 56 faculty positions and allocate $1.4 million in discretionary funds to the university's departments. He distributed the faculty members according to need and asked departments to submit proposals for portions of the money, which were reviewed by a committee of faculty, deans and university officials. The funds were given based on the committee's review.

Edwards also said he is dedicated to hearing student feedback.

"I try to keep track of what's happening with the students, because it wouldn't be a university if it wasn't for them," he said.

Tina Reyes, an associate professor of educational leadership, said she is impressed with the caliber of candidates but remains concerned about holding true to the University's goal of "educating the working-class people of Houston."

"I would say (Edwards) is average," Reyes said. "These candidates all look wonderful when they are flirting with you."

The next forum, with Charles Louis of Georgia State University, will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the University Hilton's Waldorf Room.
 

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