2026 Academic Review of the Division of Student Life and of Vice President Sarah Hansen

The University President and the Faculty Senate President have assembled a faculty committee to conduct an academic review of the Division of Student Life (DSL) and of Vice President Sarah Hansen in accordance with the procedures in our UI Policy Manual (sections II-28.4 and II-28.5): https://opsmanual.uiowa.edu/community-policies/academic-review

The internal and external review committee members are: 

Chair: Craig Just (Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering)
Julie Pacheco (Professor, Political Science, CLAS)
Sato Ashida (Associate Professor, Community and Behavioral Health, Public Health)
Brian Lai (Associate Professor, Political Science, CLAS)
Shelly Campo (Associate Professor, Communication Studies, CLAS)
Nicholas Bowman (Professor, Higher Education and Student Affairs, Education)
Lori Reesor (Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

The academic reviews of upper administration offices ideally occur every seven years. Recent academic/administrative reviews include the 2025 Office of the Provost, 2025 Office of the President, and 2024 Office of the Vice President for Research. The last review of the DSL was in 2009. The final review reports for several central administration offices reviewed under this policy can be found on the Faculty Senate website here: 

https://faculty-senate.uiowa.edu/about-faculty-senate/administrative-reviews

The purpose of these periodic reviews is to provide an occasion for office leadership to evaluate their programs and units and to explain the roles, functions, and activities of their office. It also permits a faculty evaluation of these offices and officers that can recognize strengths of the office’s activities and may recommend improvements in structure or performance. It is intended to facilitate communication between administrative officials and faculty. The focus of the review is roughly the approximately six-year period (since April 2020) that Vice President Hansen has led the Division. It is primarily focused on activities that contribute to student success, in addition to the office and officer’s activities related to transparency, crisis management, and contingency planning. 

The committee will review the individual office and officer self-study documents and solicit feedback from individuals with responsibilities for framing and implementing policies inside the office. Additional feedback will be requested from others who have working relationships with the office. The DSL review, during the fall 2026 semester, will include interviews with DSL employees, and representatives from the offices of the President, Provost, Campus Safety, Admissions, Finance and Operations, General Counsel, and Strategic Communications. Feedback will be provided from leaders of Faculty Senate, Staff Council, Graduate and Professional Student Government, Undergraduate Student Government, and the Center for Advancement.

The committee will also conduct a survey of additional individuals on campus with interactions directly or indirectly with the office. The general interview plans mirror those used in recent Provost’s and President’s office reviews. The committee will create a public report reviewing the Division and a confidential report reviewing the Division leader. Both reports will be delivered to the University President. The public office report will also be delivered to the Faculty Senate President. The anticipated completion of this review process is by the end of 2026.