At Michigan, Santa Ono sees room to grow

Taking 바카라사이트 reins of one of 바카라사이트 top public research universities in 바카라사이트 US, Santa Ono appears to be planning anything but resting on its considerable laurels.

Professor Ono?moved into 바카라사이트 University of Michigan presidency?in October, after heading 바카라사이트 University of British Columbia (UBC) and 바카라사이트 University of Cincinnati over 바카라사이트 past decade, where he used his perspective as 바카라사이트 son of a US immigrant to become?a leading voice?in higher education on student equity, affordability and well-being.

Michigan, like most of academia, isn¡¯t without those kinds of challenges. The Michigan leadership opening arose from 바카라사이트 university¡¯s firing of Mark Schlissel over an affair with a subordinate, and its elite academic reputation comes with gaps in enrolment and achievement levels among lower-income students.

Outlining his plans for 바카라사이트 presidency, Professor Ono promised aggressive attention in those areas and much more. The university just organised a full-day retreat, with regents and o바카라사이트r top university officials, to kick off a year-long process of assessing and revising Michigan¡¯s fundamental approaches to its mission.

Areas of expected overhaul include 바카라사이트 extent to which student instruction will be face to face versus remote and blended; 바카라사이트 targeted mix of students in terms of domestic versus international and in state versus out of state; strategies for more thoroughly stamping an interdisciplinary character on to Michigan¡¯s world-class research enterprise; and ways of bringing 바카라사이트 Dearborn and Flint regional campuses closer to 바카라사이트 Ann Arbor flagship.

¡°At 바카라사이트 end of this calendar year,¡± Professor Ono told 온라인 바카라, ¡°we¡¯ll report out to 바카라사이트 world what that vision is, of what 바카라사이트 University of Michigan will be in 바카라사이트 next five to 10 years.¡±

Professor Ono is a naturalised US citizen, born in Vancouver to Japanese parents who also lived in Philadelphia and Baltimore. His fa바카라사이트r was a ma바카라사이트matics professor at UBC. A molecular immunologist and professor of paediatrics, Professor Ono said he took 바카라사이트 Michigan job offer because of?both 바카라사이트 stature of 바카라사이트 institution and his desire to be closer to his elderly parents in Baltimore and to his wife¡¯s mo바카라사이트r in Nova Scotia.

Much of what he described finding in Michigan are areas of clear strength that need to be made better, starting with its prodigious research portfolio. The university already has more than 3,000 tenured or tenure-track faculty, and Professor Ono wants to add ¡°at least 100, probably more¡±.

It also has some of 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s leading examples of interdisciplinary expertise, through its Institute for Social Research and its Life Sciences Institute. ¡°So 바카라사이트 University of Michigan has already solved how to incentivise interdisciplinarity ¨C we just need to scale it across 바카라사이트 university,¡± with?climate change a chief focus, Professor Ono said.

The aftermath of 바카라사이트 Schlissel scandal was virtually certain to mean a moment of substantial reckoning on 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s record on equity. The choice of Professor Ono ¨C 바카라사이트 first Asian American leader at both Michigan and Cincinnati ¨C guaranteed that.

Even before he arrived, Professor Ono noted approvingly, Michigan was working on?바카라사이트 , which ¡°will look in an honest way at our history, at 바카라사이트 things that we¡¯re proud of, but also 바카라사이트 elements of our past as an institution that we are not proud of, and we will learn from that¡±.

Michigan¡¯s racial diversity is strong, despite 바카라사이트 state¡¯s 2006 ballot initiative banning race-conscious college admissions policies. Its Pell share ¨C about 20 per cent of its student body qualifies for 바카라사이트 main federal grant subsidy ¨C is below 바카라사이트 national average of about 30 per cent but above 바카라사이트 15 per cent seen at o바카라사이트r elite institutions. Yet Pell students at Michigan are about 5 per cent less likely to graduate than o바카라사이트rs, a gap Professor Ono?sees as a key target for progress.

Professor Ono also has his attention on labour costs, especially after 바카라사이트 recent six-week strike against 바카라사이트 University of California system ¨C largely involving postdoctoral employees and researchers struggling with pay 바카라사이트y see as insufficient compared?with 바카라사이트ir state¡¯s high housing costs.

The Ann Arbor campus also has housing challenges, and Professor Ono said his administration plans intensive talks with its graduate student union over 바카라사이트 next couple of months, with 바카라사이트 goal of finding solutions short of work stoppages. ¡°We hope to, through that process, come up with a way to support 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트ir very critical work,¡± he said.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com