Krendl, Flemming and Wray have been OU deans since summer 1996 and Berman has been at the helm of HTC since summer 1995. Because of the large number of new deans and interim deans last year, Brehm and the Faculty Senate decided it was an opportune time to clarify the evaluation process and postpone reviews to the 1997-98 academic year.

In addition to giving the dean feedback about his or her performance, College Review Committees solicit input from students, faculty and staff members about how to strengthen the college and how the dean can improve.

The HTC Review Committee reported Berman, "effectively communicates with the students and directors of studies, ... promotes the needs and achievements of the college, ... maintains the high academic standards and is seeking ways to make the operation of the college more efficient."

An evaluation survey was sent to 213 HTC students and 29 directors of studies and HTC staff. Only 26 students and 14 directors responded, according to the report.

"Dean Berman is doing quite a good job because only six out of the 242 people surveyed responded negatively," according to the committee report.

Berman said even the six negative criticisms alerted him to possible improvements.

Some respondents suggested communication within the college might be a problem, he said, but that stems from spending so much time with individual students instead of faculty members.

"I spend more time day to day with students than any other dean does," he said. "Sometimes I'll have four, five or six students see me in a day."

But Berman cited other goals for HTC to strive toward in the next few years, such as getting students professional experience through programs like the HTC Research Apprenticeship Program, getting more OU departments to participate in HTC programs and expanding undergraduate research opportunities.

The college also is gaining a national reputation and more than 9,000 HTC brochures are mailed to top high school juniors around the country, Berman said.

Applications to the college have increased from 300 in 1995 to 469 this fall. The college only accepts 60 students per year to allow faculty members to work with individual students, Berman said.

College of Communication

Krendl received an overall nod of approval from the 42 of 89 faculty members who responded to her first annual evaluation at OU, according to the College Review Committee's report.

Although the review committee reported Krendl is "open, willing to listen and honest," the report listed some criticisms from the college faculty.

While the report said many faculty and staff appreciate updates on the college through e-mail, some respondents said the e-mail was not personal enough.

Krendl said because the six departments within the college are spread across campus, it is more realistic for her to keep in contact with them via e-mail.

"It is not unusual for me to receive 100 e-mail messages per day, and many of those messages are from faculty," she said. "Though I do not see most of our faculty on a day-to-day basis, I am readily accessible to them by e-mail, which helps me overcome the distances that separate us."

Although the review report said the faculty views the dean as an effective communicator, it cited specific concerns regarding matters within the Scripps School of Journalism.

Krendl said she was not aware of any communication problems in the School of Journalism but has been meeting with journalism faculty this quarter.

"I have been invited to attend a number of faculty meetings in Scripps, recently, and I hope communication has improved as a result," she said.

In the annual review report, Brehm complimented Krendl on her role in the implementation of "innovative projects," including the Global Learning Community, Scripps Survey Research Center and the Center for Innovation in Technology for Learning.

Krendl said although the new programs and resources have improved the academic environment of the college, new faculty members like journalist Terry Anderson and Jan Slater, a former advertising executive, will further enhance communication students' experiences at OU.

Newly hired faculty "have strong professional experience and will provide students with strong linkages to businesses and industry," she said.

The college also hired an Internship and Placement Coordinator to help students locate internships and job opportunities.

Russ College of Engineering and Technology

The Engineering and Technology's College Review Committee concluded Wray's strengths "are professionalism, ethics and integrity, effective communication with individuals and small groups and good decision making skills."

Questionnaires concerning Wray's leadership were sent to all of the college's 90 faculty and 17 staff members, and 37 faculty and nine staff members responded.

The report said some responses indicated Wray "could improve ... communication with the faculty beyond those methods already in place." The committee also recommended Wray should establish a review procedure for staff performance that includes faculty participation.

After reviewing the report's findings, Wray said he also has begun to address other issues that need attention in the college including:

Wray already expanded a position to address diversity issues and another position to begin expanding the research program.

"I have elevated a part-time position to a full-time special assistant to the dean position (Nicole Henry), who is charged with expanding our minority and women recruiting - both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, improving our minority student retention and expanding our summer outreach programs," he said.

The associate dean for research and graduate studies position was created to pursue research opportunities with industry and private research sponsors.

Increasing technology was another goal that must be achieved over time, Wray said.

"Although the Russ College currently has approximately one-third of all computers available to students in the university, it still is insufficient to support the needs of our students," he said. "Additionally, because of the rapid advance in speed, capacity and capability, virtually all of our computers must be replaced every three or four years."

The Russ College proposed to charge engineering and technology majors with a technology fee that would pay for computer and technology upgrades, but OU administrators developed a plan to increase the Russ College's budget without assessing an additional fee to engineering students.

A technology fee might have to be implemented if there are cuts to the OU budget, but the fee would be "at a level less than that originally proposed," Wray said.

College of Arts and Sciences

"In evaluating the performance of the dean of the Arts and Sciences college, it is important to take context into account," Brehm said in her annual review report for Flemming. "Because of its enormous diversity in disciplines and large size, it is very difficult ... to achieve consensus in a college of arts and sciences."

In her summary, Brehm rated Flemming's performance as "excellent" and said Flemming has "handled many difficult, contentious issues with tact, savvy and firmness."

The College of Arts and Sciences Review Committee, which surveyed faculty, program directors, staff and students in the college, received 162 responses from 1,091 sent out.

The committee highlighted "representative" assessments of Flemming's leadership based on the responses and cited her management and communication skills as possible areas for improvement.

"Communication is an ongoing challenge for all administrators," Flemming said. "It's very easy to get submersed in administrative details, especially with the broad range of constituents in the College of Arts and Sciences."

As a result of the review, she has begun sending e-mail messages to all the Arts and Sciences faculty members every Monday to discuss issues affecting the college.

She also said she has been meeting with small groups of faculty members every other Friday to solicit their input, and she will meet with each department at least once a year, something Flemming said she "didn't do this year as much as I should have."

Based on the review and her vision for the college, Flemming said there are other problems facing the college in the next few years.

"Space issues are the utmost concerns for many of our programs, in both research space and teaching space," she said. "I think the the university is gradually addressing those issues."

Flemming said she will meet with OU Provost Sharon Brehm to discuss the distribution of faculty across the college.

Arts and Sciences administrators flagged the structures of graduate and undergraduate programs as points of concerned because some departments only have an undergraduate program, while others only offer certain graduate degrees, Flemming said.

Administrators will be developing new masters programs, especially those oriented toward helping teachers meet new requirements, she said.

"I am concerned with the balance between graduate and undergraduate programs," she said. "We need to make sure we have adequate programs for majors in both graduate and undergraduate areas."

The college will conduct periodic reviews of graduate programs to determine any necessary changes, she said. In addition, college administrators are considering developing new interdisciplinary programs at the masters level, she said.