12A SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1996
KU EDITION
LAWRENCE IOURNAL-WORLD
Administrative shakeup creates atmosphere of change
Everything old is new again for KU provost
David Shulenburger was named provost, the No. 2 spot at KU, this year after a nationwide search. Shulenburger previously was KU's vice chancellor for academic affairs.
A veteran KU professor was named the university's first provost since 1962.
BY TIM CARPENTER
JOURNAL-WORLD WRITER
Nearly 35 years after a Kansas University chancellor abandoned the provost model, Chancellor Robert Hemenway threw precedent aside and appointed a veteran professor as provost.
Hemenway's provost, his No. 2 of asylum 1, has been David Shulenburger, formerly KU's vice chancellor for academic affairs.
"He was the best candidate," Hemenway said. "He clearly has the ability to get things done. I think he's highly principled."
"The provost and the chancellor need a produce.
executive vice chancellor, held by Ed Meyen, was eliminated. Shulenburger's old position of vice chancellor also was deep-sized.
Managerial duties held by Meyen and academic responsibilities held by Shulenburger in the old system were handed to the provost. After a national search, Shulenburger was chosen to fill that position.
"The provost and chancellor need a productive partnership. That's the kind of relationship that we'll have."
Shulenburger, paid $130,000 annually, was assigned the task of making the provost model work in the wake of a major administrative shakeup at KU.
"The provost and the chancellor need a productive partnership. That's the kind of relationship that we'll have."
A major plank of the reorganization was Hemenway's decision to merge two high-level campus jobs. The job of KU
— KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway
"It's a real opportunity for me as provost to make a difference in teaching and research at KU," Shulenburger said.
He said the old administrative structure diluted authority to a point that reform was difficult.
"There are many things about which we could only complain," Shulen-burger said. "There is no more room to complain
— responsibility is aligned with authority."
Academic, budget and operational responsibilities on KU's Lawrence campus are now concentrated in his hands.
The last time KU had a provost was 1962. That was the year KU Chancellor Clarke Wescoe hired James Surface for the job. After one year, that was abandoned in favor of the vice chancellor model that remained many years.
Byselecting Shulenburger, Hemenway teamed up with a university insider capable of balancing the administrative ticket. Hemenway has been chancellor only 15 months.
Shulenburger, 50, has been a KU faculty member for 22 years. He's joked about knowing where all the bodies are buried on campus.
"I'm not sure how many new people you want at the head of the institution at one time," he said.
Shulenburger began in 1974 as an assistant professor of business and climbed the ranks to vice chancellor of academic affairs by 1993.
A native of Salisbury, N.C., he earned a bachelor's degree from Lenoir Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois.
Aside from administering KU's reorganization, Shulenburger said a primary goal was to improve the academic experience of freshmen and sophomore students.
He said KU officials had a responsibility to nurture these young students. In the past, not enough attention was lavished on them.
"I believe that." Shulenburger said.
"It's a bellwether issue."
He said emphasis should be placed on student advising and on making certain students graduated in a timely manner.
The reform menu includes correcting or eliminating low-quality graduate programs and enhancing academic computing services on campus, Shulenburger said.
Shulenburger said adjusting expectations of faculty — more or less research, more or less teaching — to conform to individual strengths would improve KU's educational enterprise, he said.
He said it was essential to follow through on Hemenway's plan to create an umbrella research foundation at KU. Research funding needs to climb to at least $150 million annually, he said.
"The trick there is not to sell your soul." he said.
Shulenburger said KU would resist political pressure to dismantle faculty tenure.
The list of issues confronting higher education leaders runs longer than Shulenburger's arm, but he's ready for the challenge.
"If we do it well," he said, "the legend of Harvard on the Kaw will be a little closer to reality."
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