Editors note: This is the second in a five-part series detailing the evaluations of Ohio University deans. Only five deans were evaluated because first-year deans are not evaluated.
Evaluations of the engineering college dean have grown increasingly negative each year since 2004, but officials warn against drawing conclusions about the dean's leadership.
The evaluations reveal that while the majority of the categories for rating Russ College of Engineering and Technology Dean Dennis Irwin were positive, the number of faculty checking either Does Not Meet (Expectations) or Unsatisfactory increased an average 19 percent in 11 categories since last year.
Irwin said the decline in faculty perceptions tends to happen with most leadership positions.
The largest decline in Irwin's rating was in Interpersonal Relationships. Of the respondents, 50 percent said that he did not meet expectations in relationships with faculty.
Some wrote that Irwin should better control his temper. Communication style intimidates
shuts off discussion. Needs to learn to keep his temper one respondent wrote.
Nearly all written comments about the dean were negative. The only respondent whose comments appeared to be positive wrote that Irwin performed well under pressure. I do not think we could get a better person for the position.
Irwin, who receives a $211,111 annual salary, declined to respond to individual comments, but he has stated that he was disappointed by what he said were unconstructive comments. He said some comments might factor into his future conduct.
It depends on the constructiveness of comments the response rate ... whether it's large enough to be meaningful at all. I think there are some things in there that I'll take to heart
he said.Low response
The evaluations are anonymous and university officials warn against drawing inferences about Irwin's performance because the number of respondents ' the second-worst turnout among the five evaluations ' was too low to be within an acceptable margin of error.
Of 81 faculty members who received surveys, 26 ' about 32 percent ' responded. An additional 35 responses were needed to fit the sample size requirement. Faculty responded that Irwin at least met expectations in six of the 11 categories: affirmative action, university relations, fiscal management, student orientation, goal achievement and external relations.
The committee said that a comprehensive appointment review that about 54 percent of participating faculty recommended not be conduced is neither necessary nor in the best interests of the college.
Not all faculty responded
and there may be response bias present in these results
wrote Mike Williford, associate provost of Institutional Research, in an analysis of the survey to Provost Kathy Krendl.
Typically, the turnout is about 40 percent, Krendl said.'Pay attention'
Despite the low turnout, the committee conducting the review implored Irwin to pay attention to the comments.
While most faculty responded that Irwin promoted academic integrity, some criticized the dean's response to the initial allegations of plagiarism last year.
I am concerned that although the college has implemented many changes to respond to the academic integrity situation
it has not accepted responsibility for any part of the past 'problem
' and has not admitted that it shares blame for not having proper training and support in place
another respondent wrote.
The college has spent the past summer trying to recover from myriad cases of alleged plagiarism in master's theses and dissertations.
The committee ' composed of engineering faculty members appointed by Krendl and Faculty Senate 'wrote that they found some of the written comments to be untrue (in our opinion)
others that were unnecessarily mean-spirited
and still more that would fall under the 'unconstructive criticism' category. The process
The negative comments and perceived low turnout prompted then-Chief Information Officer Shawn Ostermann to e-mail some engineering faculty in early April, urging them to sign a petition to conduct another survey.
Irwin responded to the petition last week in an e-mail to faculty in which he said although he was disappointed by the low turnout, he would not support a re-evaluation because the proper process was followed.
Krendl will review the evaluation, along with evaluations of deans in the colleges of Health and Human Services, Osteopathic Medicine, Honors Tutorial College and University College. She will use the information to issue recommendations for the deans later this quarter.
Krendl declined to comment about the evaluations and added that her official response will be in the form of a letter to the deans.
She added that these are mid-stream reviews. Every five years the colleges conduct a comprehensive review, unless prompted to earlier by two-thirds of the faculty. The majority of respondents said that comprehensive review was not necessary.
Irwin said that his evaluation was not that surprising because of the problems he has had to deal with this year.
Sometimes
