01/24/94
CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558
STANFORD -- Law Professor Robert Weisberg has been appointed to the new position of vice provost for faculty retention and development, Provost Condoleezza Rice announced at the Faculty Senate meeting Thursday, Jan. 20.
Weisberg will devote roughly half of his time to the new responsibilities and will continue to teach, albeit in a reduced capacity, at the Law School.
Rice said Weisberg would "take charge not only of issues of affirmative action - the recruitment and retention of minority and women faculty in particular - but also attend more fully than President Casper or I can to the needs of junior faculty."
"He can't do it alone," Rice told the senate. "He will need the help of department chairs and deans and every faculty member."
Creation of the new position was among recommendations made last September by Casper's Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the Office for Multicultural Development. That committee, chaired by history Professor Al Camarillo, also concluded Stanford should re-focus its Office for Multicultural Development on staff affirmative action.
"We'll be taking a universitywide look at hiring practices for junior faculty, which assumes issues of affirmative action but goes beyond affirmative action," Weisberg said. "Secondly, we'll be assessing the quality of life for junior faculty at Stanford."
Eventually, Weisberg said, "we may be working with specific departments on appointments, and addressing the issue of the pool," that is, attempting to increase the pool of minority faculty candidates.
Weisberg said he expects to be able to devote half of his time to the new position by spring quarter. In the meantime, he said, "I suspect I'll be getting involved in quite a few things right away."
Weisberg is an expert in the fields of commercial law, criminal law and procedure, and secured transactions. He is a member of the Commission on Undergraduate Education, and chairman of the board of directors of the Stanford Bookstore, and has served on numerous university committees. He chaired a recent search committee that resulted in the hiring of new university General Counsel Michael Roster.
Rebholz questions Rice on proposed changes to Res Ed
Also at the Jan. 20 Faculty Senate meeting, English Professor Ron Rebholz asked Rice and Mary Edmonds, vice provost for student affairs, to explain a proposed reorganization of Edmonds' administrative unit.
The proposal includes adding a new dean of residential education - a faculty member - and having those involved in arranging the "24-hour" aspects of the program report to the director for housing and dining services, Keith Guy.
"It seems to divide residential education into two components," Rebholz said, "one being the academic, with the appointment of the new residential dean, and the seemingly non-academic reporting to Keith Guy." Rebholz asked what was the rationale behind the changes.
Rice said the reorganization was prompted by "concerns expressed in a number of quarters about the 'education' in 'residential education.' " Rice said she hoped that the appointment of a faculty member to oversee the academic quality of the program will "strengthen and solidify" residential education.
Edmonds also responded, saying that reporting relationships were still being finalized.
"My intent was to try and bring more value to residential education," Edmonds said. "I thought those 24-hour-a-day things could be handled with more clarity."
Rebholz, who is a resident fellow, said he still felt that the proposed division was "somewhat artificial."
The "24-hour things," Rebholz said, "are often intrinsic to the residential education mission. The person in charge of 24-hour logistics is also the person who books the speakers and panels, arranges the educational events and hosts the parties . . . so I'm just a little worried."
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