Colleagues laud UMass choice Tennessee educators call new chancellor tough but fair leader

By KRISTIN PALPINI

05/06/2008- Daily Hampshire Gazette

AMHERST - Visionary. Persuasive. Intelligent. Inclusive to a point - but autocratic after a decision. Ethical. Transparent. A snazzy dresser with an affinity for hats.

 These were words colleagues at the University of Tennessee use to describe Robert C. Holub, the man University of Massachusetts trustees unanimously elected Monday to be the next chancellor of the flagship Amherst campus.

Holub, 58, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee flagship campus in Knoxville, will assume the position of chancellor around Aug. 1.

Tennessee colleagues said UMass is getting a fine academic and leader in Holub. Faculty and administrators described Holub, or 'Bob,' as a 'quintessential scholar and leader' who carefully reviews data and weighs input from students and faculty before making a decision.

But once that decision is reached, there's no going back, people interviewed said. Holub will see that it is implemented quickly and effectively.

'Openness towards public discussion was one of the keystones of his administration here,' said Louis J. Gross, the former Faculty Senate president. Gross said he was impressed by the many opinion articles Holub would write about issues facing the university and post online.

'That doesn't mean he always listens in the sense that there are obviously Faculty Senate concerns in which he went his own way, but he always did this in a respectful manner,' Gross said. 'He knew he couldn't waffle on certain things and he wasn't willing to.'

Two-year record

Colleagues said after only two years on the Knoxville campus, Holub will leave a positive legacy. He is largely credited with turning around the campus' dismal freshman retention rate by implementing a flurry of programs that focus on undergraduate students.

In 2006, the Knoxville campus had a student retention rate of about 74-75 percent, which meant that after one year at UT, 25 percent of the incoming student population did not return for their sophomore year.

This year, the retention rate rose to 84 percent of students returning for a second year.

'The essence of it is he assessed the problem and implemented programs and got it all executed in a short amount of time for higher ed,' noted Candace L. White, the Faculty Senate's delegate to the Board of Trustees. 'We're all sorry to see him leave,' said White, who described Holub as having a 'strong' personality.

Retention rates had been a cause for concern at Knoxville for years, said Gross. Holub came on campus, reviewed past retention research and quickly initiated several successful programs. They put more emphasis on academics during student orientation; bolstered the Student Success Center; created a retention task force; held student exit interviews; dedicated more money to need-based financial aid; and created a new set of freshman courses called 'first year study seminars.'

Holub made the changes without the benefit of much added staff or financial resources, faculty said. He mostly redeployed existing resources.

'He's a very visionary leader. He had a vision of how things ought to happen,' said Thomas J. Milligan, vice chancellor for communications. 'He's decisive, yes, but very inclusive to get there.'

Some dissent

Whenever there are sweeping changes, there will be dissent. Faculty cried foul when Holub added the first year study seminars onto their workload without much in the way of compensation, said Gross. Colleagues said when faced with opposition, Holub comes armed with well thought out rebuttals.

'If you're going to disagree with him, have a coherent and carefully thought out reasoning,' said Gross. 'He will quickly latch on to anything not thought out. He's very intelligent.'

Colleagues also attributed Holub's success in implementing change in notoriously slow to move academia to his intelligence. Holub can craft a winning argument, said former Chancellor Loren Crabtree.

'He's just very persuasive with great oratorical and writing skills,' said Crabtree. 'I think those things combined for him to make change in a hurry, which admittedly, is kind of unique in higher ed.'

Before going to Tennessee, Holub served at the University of California Berkeley for 27 years as both a professor in the German department and an administrator. He chaired the department when it was ranked the best in its field by the National Research Council. Holub specializes in 19th- and 20th-century German intellectual, cultural and literary history.

People speculated that Holub will bring his data-driven, but speedy, method of action to UMass. Programs that will most likely be affected, colleagues said, are ones already under way.

'He's smart about what he picks to do. UMass can expect the same,' said Milligan. 'He'll look at what's in place and strategize and build on that.'

This could mean Holub may focus on creating a strategic plan for the flagship. Amherst faculty are already working on a strategic outline that will focus on increasing faculty and improving facilities and the first-year student experience. Holub is also inheriting the Amherst 250 Plan, which was devised in 2004 to swell faculty ranks by 50 tenure-track positions over five years. Faculty have long argued that the hiring pace has been disappointing.

'He's well liked by the deans, which is always a good indicator,' said David A. Patterson, Faculty Senate president. 'They don't spit on the ground at the mention of his name.'

Holub will also have to tackle a $1.3 billion infrastructure maintenance backlog and form new programs that seek to link UMass with Springfield.