Lorraine Davis’ second review regarding the Office of International Affairs revealed several serious structural issues and resulted in Vice Provost for International Affairs and Outreach Chunsheng Zhang’s transfer to Johnson Hall, where he will serve as special assistant to the president and provost for international affairs.
This is the second of two reports Provost Linda Brady requested from Davis. It addressed the overall management of International Affairs, including goal-setting and performance, staff development, financial management and communication.
Davis, special assistant to the president and provost, made six key recommendations in the report. Briefly, they are as follows:
? Mediated intervention within the office may be necessary to solve management issues.
? A strategic planning process to understand the office’s unit goals, what they require, and how they fit into the office’s overall mission would promote understanding.
? The office’s financial management should implement specific Quality Assurance Review recommendations. This will require direct involvement with the financial status and management.
? Some attention should be given to AHA, the international education program, as the transition within the office takes place.
? The office should emphasize its relationships with outside programs that can provide students with international experiences.
? The office should reinforce its “many successful activities and programs.”
Davis found that the office’s structure did not cater to Zhang’s managerial qualities. International Affairs staff had grown accustomed to hands-on management, but Zhang’s job required him to spend about 40 percent of his working days overseas pursuing the University’s international agenda. Zhang’s lack of presence in the office led to a communication rift between he and the office staff, and sometimes created a tense atmosphere within the office. Zhang has served as vice provost for almost two years, and will focus more on outreach than external activities in his new position, Brady said.
“There was a good sense … about a commitment to move forward and so I’m very optimistic about where we go from here,” said Brady.
Effective May 15, Zhang will be replaced temporarily by Stephen Durrant, currently head of the East Asian Languages department.
“I just want to be as transparent as I can be and encourage everyone else to be transparent and talk back and forth,” Durrant said of his plans to facilitate communication and manage the office.
Through a secretary, Zhang declined to comment.
While overall office management was the primary focus of Davis’ report, she also devoted substantial attention to the office’s financial unit, which is suffering from managerial issues of its own.
According to the report, “there is much confusion regarding the financial management of OIA” expressed by employees at all levels. Staff are also concerned about the general fund operating deficit, which approached $90,000 this year.
A financial administrator within the office, who wished to remain anonymous out of concern for coworkers and staff morale, said some staff think office management was not receptive to staff concerns and input. The source said staff raised issues to office managers, who did nothing to address them.
“You want your leaders to listen to you, to what you say, and receive your input and feel like you’re actually being heard,” the source said. “That was not the case here.”
The source said complications in goal-setting and communication stemmed from personality incompatibility between managers and staff.
“It really affected the way that we worked – the fact that we didn’t look at things the same way,” said the source. “For me, that was one of the biggest problems. I didn’t feel that we had the same understanding of what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it.”
Janell Wooten, senior financial officer of International Affairs, is assuming a position in facilities services, the campus maintenance department. Wooten did not return e-mails or phone calls requesting an interview.
Davis said the Office of Finance and Administration’s oversight of International Affairs’ financial unit is “essential” to the unit’s recovery.
Several International Affairs employees said despite the difficult period office staff went through beginning with the dismissals of program directors Magid Shirzadegan and Kathy Poole, they appreciate the work done by Davis and Provost Brady to remedy the situation, and the report for the most part addressed their concerns.
“This was a process where many different campus voices and perspectives were really heard and taken into consideration,” said Abe Schafermeyer, assistant director of International Student and Scholar Services, in an e-mail interview. “I feel that the review and the resulting recommendations and decisions were a necessary and healthy step for the internationalization efforts of the UO to move forward.”
Coordinator of Exchange and Sponsored Student Programs Jane Walster agreed, but still has questions about how similar personnel issues will be dealt with in the future.
The anonymous source said the staff had faith in the University’s leadership.
“We knew the provost and the president were going to make the right call in helping us get back on track and move forward.”