Appendix C18: Provost’s Office and Academic Affairs Risk Analysis Profile
Functions: Oversight responsibility for:
- academic programs and policies;
- instruction and research;
- academic administration, planning, and budgeting;
- faculty hiring and evaluation;
- institutional planning, assessment, and research;
- communications and interactions with the UH System, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools on academic matters.
Critical tasks:
- Communications is the critical consideration for this office to be able to direct and coordinate activities in the event of an emergency.
Important tasks
- Ability to approve, sign off on requisite paperwork affecting purchases, salaries, etc.
- By the end of a week some provision needs to be made for resuming course delivery. This is a function of the academic schools and will presumably be noted in their responses.
Less Important tasks:
- All others
Minimal emergency personnel:
- Provost
Minimal emergency equipment and supplies:
- Telephone. E-mail access, if possible. Emergency contacts (all of which the provost has available and can use from home, if need be).
General impact:
- A shut down of more than a week is a disaster for summer school and would result in considerable disruption of the educational process in a regular semester.
- If it is not possible to salvage a term, then the institution would be looking at refunds for tuition and fees, and some students could be delayed in their graduation plans – which could mean loss of prospective employment or salary increases.
