From the Daily Hampshire Gazette

UMass to shift focus Tocco: For now, restructuring is out of the picture

By KRISTIN PALPINI Staff Writer

AMHERST – To the relief of many at UMass Amherst, the University of Massachusetts is moving away from plans to overhaul top-level management and will instead focus on increased campus collaborations, according to trustees chairman Stephen P. Tocco.

On Tuesday, Tocco said he doesn’t expect any significant governance changes for the five-campus university system unless such a move is suggested by Gov. Deval Patrick’s Readiness Project, a panel appointed to implement Patrick’s pre-kindergarten through higher education proposals. The project recently was given the added responsibility of reviewing the UMass system.

‘I would think that we’re going to set that aside unless in the process the task force says that this is absolutely something we should be doing,’ Tocco said.

Meanwhile, Tocco said he expects that an interim chancellor will be named for the Amherst campus within the next few weeks if UMass Amherst Chancellor John V. Lombardi is chosen the new president of the Louisiana State University system. A vote on Lombardi’s appointment is expected by the end of the week.

Tocco’s thoughts about UMass plans are a step away from what university administrators have been proposing since mid-May. For over a month, the UMass president’s office and trustees have been talking about starting a yearlong study of governance models. The first governance design specifically floated was a ‘lead campus’ model in which the president and flagship chancellor position would be combined.

Still, the goal remains the same, Tocco said. Both the governance study and the collaborations focus seek to boost UMass’ stature by unifying the system.

‘This is more focused on how do we get more collaboration and more systemwide cooperation,’ Tocco said. Organizing UMass into a lead campus model was one way of achieving this goal, Tocco said, ‘but there is more than one way to reach this objective.’

A unified UMass has been the hallmark of Wilson’s and Tocco’s public addresses since the reorganization study was proposed. The idea also falls in line with Wilson’s ‘Vision of One University,’ a 10-page PowerPoint presentation that seeks to centralize some UMass operations and have all five campuses trumpet a united message.

In Amherst, Tocco’s comments taking the restructuring of top-level management off the table for now were welcome news. Reorganization plans had met harsh criticism from faculty, students, western Massachusetts politicians and some trustees, many of whom cited the seemingly secretive way the proposals were created. Many accused UMass administrators of trying to implement changes without open dialogue among constituents.

‘This is great news. This is what we had been hoping for,’ said Max Page, president of the UMass Amherst chapter of the Massachusetts Society of Professors.

Page said he agrees with Tocco that if Patrick’s group finds that a change in governance is what UMass needs, the university should consider it. However, Patrick’s group may not investigate governance models for the university. The Readiness Project is charged with reviewing the system with a focus on increasing cross-campus collaborations. UMass Amherst faculty are in the process of forming their own committee to study the university system’s performance and governance.

‘The system we have now is not perfect,’ Page said. ‘Everyone, especially the faculty, loves to study new ideas. Now that the governor’s Readiness Project is going to look at this – it’s ideally what we wanted.’

Page also noted that UMass’ decision to forgo a governance study could have a positive impact on the university’s search for a new flagship chancellor.

‘This will make the search go much better in all accounts,’ Page said. ‘We’ll get better candidates if they (the candidates) don’t feel like there is a route already laid out on the table to shape their leadership.’

In May Wilson divulged details of a proposed yearlong study of university management systems. At the same time, he announced a rearrangement of chancellors under which Amherst chancellor Lombardi was to leave his position after the 2007-08 academic year.

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