The University of Hawaii is soon to select its 16th President as David Lassner, who has led the campus for over 10 years, is retiring. Last week the State of Hawaii was told who the candidates are to replace Dr. Lassner.
And so far, the rollout to the public of the candidates – Dr. Julian Vasquez Helig, Provost at Western Michigan University, and Wendy Hensel, JD, of the City University of New York – has created a general amount of buzz about the forums they will be in, and the observation that neither of them has deep ties to Hawaii.
That is just one of several items that this blogger has observed in examining the resumes (or as they say in academia, a curriculum vitae or CV) of each of the candidates, and taking a bit of time to look beyond the press releases and initial reporting, on the candidates.
Here are a few observations made:
PC: “David Lassner (cropped)” by Bytemarks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
- It has been so long since Hawaii has experienced a public presentation of University Presidents that, at least for one Civil Beat article, finding it required the use of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to find their article on the finalists then.
- And just like the last time there were candidates for President, there were only two presented as finalists. Furthermore, as with the last time, one of the candidates didn’t come with a “Ph.D.” in front of their name. At that time, it was a retired Lt. General with the U.S. Army, along with Lassner. This time around, one of the candidates again has a Ph.D., but the second one comes only with a Bachelor’s and a Juris Doctor (JD for short).
- Delving into the presentations of each of the candidates. Hensel presented a resume of 11 pages that had the standard set of academic background information, publications, and achievements in her career. Vasquez Heilig presented a resume with a whopping 45 pages of his achievements. His presentation threw in the proverbial kitchen sink, seemingly putting in everything he has ever done.
- Talking about the content of the CVs, Hensel may have done more, but she is presenting more highlights. Vasquez Heilig on the other hand is presenting to those looking at a wide range of talents that he possesses, including but not limited to presentations through various media (blog, podcasts, legislative testimony, etc). Some of that has come out in other reports on Dr. Vasquez Heilig, in presentations he has made that were recorded.
- As mentioned in the introduction, neither candidate has strong ties to Hawaii. In the past, candidates for leadership positions in Hawaii were typically judged based on their connections to the state. Vasquez Heilig references Alphonso Braggs, President of the Hawaii NAACP, in his CV. Hensel only mentions presenting at a conference in Hawaii in her list of publications, with no other mention of Hawaii in her CV.
- Both candidates have international experience in their CVs. Vasquez Heilig studied Chinese Mandarin and spent time in China in the mid-90s. Hensel conducted legal research on European legal systems while interning at the United States Supreme Court in the early 90s. While specific regional knowledge is not the primary focus in selecting these candidates, many leaders in Hawaii typically have some exposure to Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or Asian cultures. Lassner is one such candidate who has established strong connections in both the Pacific region and with the Hawaiian communities.
- Both are younger than the outgoing President. Lassner is currently 70 years old and would be considered a Baby Boomer. Both Vasquez Heilig and Hensel are in the X-Generation category. This would be a form-following function in Hawaii as the state has been shifting in generational leadership from Baby Boomer to X-Generation over the past couple of years. (see the Politics Hawaii article on the generational shift in Hawaii Leadership for more information)
PC: “University of Hawaii (Manoa), Oahu, Hawaii (5)” by Ken Lund is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
There is no doubt that more information about the candidates will be uncovered as they begin the public presentation phase of their candidacy. Some things will inevitably be liked, and others not liked. If both of their presentations are weak or not inspiring to the public, there may be a feeling that the recruitment process needs to be redone to find better candidates.
We will only see after things start up on Monday the 23rd of September for Hensel, and September 30 for Dr. Vasquez Heilig. So, stay tuned.