Hank Foley, executive vice president for academic affairs for the University of Missouri System, was the guest at the Faculty Council meeting Oct. 17 in Memorial Union.
Foley started at MU on Aug. 5. He had been at Penn State for 13 years. Since 2009, he was vice president for research and dean of Penn State’s Graduate School
For about 40 minutes, Foley talked mostly of research strategies, shared governance and raising MU’s standing in the Association of American Universities.
Though acknowledging the scrutiny currently on federal dollars for university research, Foley wants to see MU “open up more time for scholarship and research,” he said.
He also spoke of his strategies toward the byproducts of research such as intellectual property rights. “We didn’t need to own IP unless faculty said we should,” Foley said of how it worked at Penn State.
He sees similarities between Penn State’s and MU’s entrepreneurial spirit. “Growing our own [businesses] is the best approach,” Foley said.
One of his goals is to better MU’s AAU ranking so the university can become “a magnet for bright young faculty,” he said.
Finally, Harry Tyrer, professor of electrical and chemical engineering, raised the topic of shared governance.
Foley said at Penn State he implemented “town hall meetings” with faculty to keep them informed of administrative discussions. Sometimes he hosted pre-meetings to the formal meetings to offer background to faculty.
In other news, Dennis Miller, associate professor of psychology, submitted an open letter to council for approval asking the chancellor that Faculty Council have a voice in who will be MU’s next provost. Provost Brian Foster is retiring effective Jan. 1, 2014.
In addition, council passed a motion 18-3 allowing the College of Arts and Sciences to pursue introducing a supplemental fee to students.