94 professors sign petition
supporting SOEST deanTop faculty members urge
the UH president to retain Raleigh
Most senior faculty members of the University of Hawaii-Manoa School of Ocean & Earth Sciences & Technology have signed a letter to UH administrators expressing strong support for their dean, C. Barry Raleigh.
The letter, signed by 94 professors, asks UH President Evan Dobelle and Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert "to do everything in your power" to convince Raleigh to remain as SOEST's dean. There are a total of 175 faculty members in SOEST.
At a meeting June 19-20, the UH Board of Regents will consider a request from Raleigh for a year's paid leave starting Aug. 1 and a return to a faculty position. Raleigh currently is in Europe.
SOEST has developed into an internationally renowned research institution with significant federal support under Raleigh's strong direction. He was appointed in 1989, the first dean of the school.
If the regents approve his request to step down, the letter said, "it will be a huge loss for SOEST, the university and the state of Hawaii."
Jim Manke, spokesman for Englert, said the chancellor is vacationing on Maui with his family and hadn't seen the letter, which arrived in his office yesterday.
However, he said Englert had a "cordial meeting" with the SOEST Executive Council Friday. "The council went away encouraged with the chancellor's long-term vision for SOEST."
"That's generally true," said Patricia Cooper, former interim associate dean of SOEST, now a geology-geophysics faculty member.
She said Englert "assured us that not only would he not break up SOEST into whatever elements he had in mind but he wanted to see SOEST continue to grow as it has."
She said Englert "welcomed faculty input as far as nominating an interim dean and he was very encouraging about faculty involvement in selecting the new dean."
She said the school's 12-member council, including four department chairs, four institute directors and four administrators, "was surprised" that the meeting went so well.
Still, the faculty wants Raleigh to stay on as dean, said Cooper, who was among faculty members signing the letter.
The letter points out that the faculty "has achieved international recognition for its collective excellence" under Raleigh's leadership.
"SOEST ranks amongst the top five ocean sciences institutions in the United States in publications in peer-refereed journals, the placement of (graduate) students in tenure-track positions and in peer-refereed, competitive extramural funding," the letter said.
The UH obtained funds for a new oceanographic research vessel and other significant new facilities through Raleigh's efforts, the faculty said.
"Dean Raleigh helped build the critical research infrastructure and the reputation for excellence at SOEST that has allowed the school to recruit and retain faculty that ranks within the first tier of similar institutions around the world.
"This pursuit of excellence has paid off handsomely" for UH and the state, the letter said.