Dear Faculty and Staff:

I would like to express my enthusiasm on this first day of my presidency at Wayne State. I am grateful for the many good wishes I have received from members of the university community.

Recently, I discussed with the Wayne State Board of Governors the challenges I face and my plan of action to meet them during the first 24 months of my tenure as President of Wayne State University. Before this meeting, I had a wide range of discussions over the last two months with faculty, staff, students, community leaders, members of the Board of Governors, alumni, governmental officials - including Governor Engler - corporate leaders and many other friends of the University. I was particularly grateful for the generosity in time given me by President Adamany.

In my meeting, I outlined for the Board changes in the administrative structure of Wayne State that I planned to implement immediately in order to meet these challenges. This restructuring is designed to increase both efficiency and responsiveness to our many constituencies while also maintaining the fiscal and academic stability of the university.

There were 18 positions reporting directly to the President. I have reduced that number to 11 by redefining responsibilities, eliminating some positions while adding others. Overall, the structure will be streamlined and focused while keeping administrative overhead to a minimum.

The most noticeable change is the reinstatement of the Provost position. The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will assume many of the on-campus responsibilities currently delegated to the President. While I certainly will be a hands-on President and plan to be visible and available on campus, the appointment of a Provost will allow me to focus on the many external responsibilities the presidency increasingly entails. We will be conducting a national search for the position of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs immediately.

The other major change is the combining of administrative and fiscal responsibilities into a Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration position. I am pleased to announce that current Vice President for Fiscal Operations John Davis has accepted the offer to assume these responsibilities.

Another change of note will be the transfer of responsibility for the Graduate School from the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School. I have asked Dan Walz to continue to serve in the capacity of Vice President for Research. I have created the position of Dean of the Graduate School reporting to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Research funding is a major source of support for Wayne State University which will need to increase dramatically in the future, and the elimination of many government funded research programs has made attracting research partners to the University a more challenging and time-consuming task but increasingly critical.

The change in the Vice President for Research position will allow that individual to focus exclusively on the University's relationship with research partners, freeing up the Dean of the Graduate School to address the needs of graduate students, faculty and corporate partners. There will soon be a national search for Dean of the Graduate School.

Several positions with similar responsibilities are being combined. For example, the community affairs functions have been assigned to Governmental Affairs Vice President Faye Nelson, who will become Vice President for Governmental and Community Affairs. This same logic was used to combine functions under the position of Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs, which will be headed on an acting basis by Don Ritzenhein (currently an acting vice president in development). The Vice President for Marketing and Communications, a newly created position to respond to the critical outreach needs of the university, will be headed on an acting basis by Marketing Professor Jeffrey Stoltman. Dr. Stoltman recently completed an assessment of marketing at Wayne State, a study with which I am quite impressed and anxious to have him begin to implement, particularly in the areas of enrollment planning and management.

Another post is being elevated to the vice-presidential level in order to address and serve the changing needs of a modern university. I will immediately begin a search for the newly created position of Vice President for Computing and Information Technology. The person holding this position will be responsible for putting Wayne State University at the forefront of modern information technology so our students, faculty and staff can accomplish their goals with the ease and thoroughness we have all come to expect in the information age. This position replaces the Executive Vice President position. Roger Nys, who will be leaving the university next year, will serve on an acting basis in this position.

As a result of these organizational changes, several vice presidents will be leaving the University. On behalf of the Board of Governors and the campus community, I thank each of them for their years of service

Wayne State University is fortunate to have the support of a highly committed faculty devoted to the tripartite responsibilities of teaching, research and community service. The University is similarly fortunate to have the academic Senate whose leadership I have already engaged in constructive dialogue that will continue on a regularly scheduled basis. Our administrative staff that make up the remainder of our employees are dedicated to creating a helpful and efficient atmosphere for learning. In meetings with the AAUP President and leaders of other unions, I sensed a true commitment to join in a partnership for the good of the university.

Our students hunger to succeed and are willing to be engaged in a dynamic process of learning. In various meetings with alumni I have been impressed with their respect and support of the institution that provided them with so much. I have come to know much about our publics made up of governmental, corporate, and community partners who respect and work with us toward common goals and I genuinely look forward to building stronger relations with them.

Finally, I am particularly grateful for the presence of a strong, supportive and active Board of Governors.

Sincerely,

Irvin D. Reid
President