• Home | About Us | Directory | Students

Greetings from the College of Public Policy

As the College of Public Policy Interim Dean, my position is temporary pending the appointment of a new permanent dean.  It is expected that a permanent dean should be appointed in spring or fall 2009.  During this interim period, I see my primary responsibility to the college as providing continuity, stability and preparation for future changes.  I do not see this as a time of “treading water” but as a time to assess college strengths, areas of growth, opportunities and challenges in preparing a solid foundation for continued and future development.

My 2009 goals as Interim Dean include:

• College Assessment:  Assessment will seek internal constituency input as to college strengths, areas of growth and concrete recommendations for change.  Through modeling open communication and transparency, I will interview each chair, faculty and staff member individually to seek their input and recommendations to further enhance College of Public Policy development.
• Department Chair, Faculty and Staff governance:  Governance is being encouraged at the College Department Chair Council, College Faculty Council and College Staff Council levels.  Department chair, faculty and staff governance will be promoted through their open engagement and ownership in positively confronting college opportunities and challenges. 
• Community and Student Engagement:  The UTSA Development Office will be utilized to engage and further strengthen the College Advisory Council in addressing both college strategic initiatives implementation and capital campaign development.  Currently, the college has no functioning college student council to inform our planning and direction.  Departmental student organizations will be utilized to initiate development of a College Student Council.
• College Innovation:  Current opportunities for college innovation and growth include:
• Interdisciplinary Ph.D – a completed Ph.D. proposal should be presented to the College Academic Programs and College Committee no later than May 2009 for review; this initiative represents collaboration across the Departments of Criminal Justice, Public Administration and Social Work.
• Institute of Demographic and Socioeconomic Research – the Institute became the college faculty research support entity as of January 2009.  The Institute will provide infrastructure support for faculty research development and activity. 
• Center for Policy Studies – the Center is being restructured as a service and entrepreneurial entity for the college to expand community engagement and college resource development.  A transition team has been established to propose Center mission and goals, policies and procedures, and to recommend infrastructure needs and resources.

I look forward to your feedback and recommendations as our college deals with present needs and plans for the future.  Do not hesitate to contact me with suggestions of how to move our College of Public Policy forward during this time of transition and change.  Thank you for your interest and commitment to our success as a resource to better serve our faculty, staff, students and to more fully engage with our community.

Submitted by
Dennis Haynes, Ph.D.
Professor and Interim Dean, College of Public Policy.

• Contact
• Identity Guidelines
• Policies
• Emergency Preparedness
• Required Links