SUBJECT:

Associate Vice Chancellor - Academic Personnel (50%)

It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Professor Robert Bitmead as Associate Vice Chancellor, Academic Personnel (AVC-AP) effective October 1, 2006. A distinguished scholar and member of the faculty of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering since 1999, Professor Bitmead is internationally recognized for his work in the theoretical and application-based areas of dynamical system modeling and feedback control. He is a Fellow of several professional organizations for the advancement of technology; the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). He currently holds the Cymer Corporation Endowed Chair.

The appointment of an Associate Vice Chancellor, Academic Personnel follows consultation with the Academic Senate, Deans and Department Chairs and is based on our continuing growth and numerous initiatives to streamline and improve the academic personnel process at UCSD. As AVC-AP, Professor Bitmead will serve half-time in my office as a principal advisor on academic personnel matters, providing leadership on personnel process improvement initiatives, including overseeing the analysis and implementation of recommendations from various campus task forces. He will provide leadership on the application of technology to academic personnel program processes, including the development and implementation of AP On-Line, an academic personnel information system. He will also play a key role in developing, evaluating and recommending academic personnel policies and procedures, in coordinating the implementation of new and/or revised academic personnel policies and procedures, and in expanding management training for academic leaders and supervisors.

Professor Bitmead has an exceptional record of service to the campus, serving most recently as Chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Personnel (CAP) in 2005/2006. Please join me in welcoming Professor Robert Bitmead to this important new position.

Marsha A. Chandler Senior Vice Chancellor