W. Hubert Keen, a candidate for the position of vice president

for academic affairs, said online education can be a benefit

for some aspects of education but not all.

“I don’t think it is the ultimate in education,” Keen told

faculty, staff and Student Senate members during an interview

Thursday. “Rather, it should be used to enhance education.”

Keen, who is currently the special assistant to the university

system provost at State University of New York, said technology

in general can be beneficial when incorporated into teaching

and the course itself.

“There are courses that can do very well online, but you can

never replace the face-to-face interaction of in-class

teaching,” Keen said. “Regional universities ought to find a

way to serve place-bound students, and online education is an

easy way to do that.”

In his previous administrative positions, Keen said he has had

to deal with budget cuts and the tough decisions that follow.

Acquiring grants and contracts, as well as identifying specific

state funding initiatives and holding fundraising events, are

alternative funding measures Keen said he has had experience in

handling.

Keen also stated his personal position on faculty development

and its purpose.

“New faculty members need an excellent development program on

campus to help bring fulfillment to their professional careers,

but it is also important for all faculty,” Keen told Faculty

Senate vice chair Bud Fischer, who brought up the subject.

Keen said funds for such initiatives are often hard to come by.

“The administration must be dedicated to getting the funding

that is needed, whether it be through grants or state and

private funding,” Keen said.

Keen identified his greatest strength for the position as his

extensive experience in academic administration.

Previous to his current position, Keen served for 16 months as

interim president at the College at Old Westbury, which is with

in the system of the State University of New York.

“The vice chancellor of the system asked me to serve as interim

president of one of their colleges,” Keen said.

During his time in that position, Keen formed and chaired a

system-wide teacher education council that involved about 16

different colleges.

“I view teacher education as a very important service to

society and an important responsibility for universities that

have such programs,” Keen said.

Before serving as interim president, Keen held a position for

four years as provost and vice president for academic affairs

at York College in the City University of New York.

“The college is in Queens and is tremendously diverse with an

enrollment of about 6,500 students,” Keen said.

Keen said as provost at the college, he set up a committee that

developed and implemented a comprehensive assessment program,

which was done for accreditation purposes.

“You need to look at assessment to define what it is you want

to accomplish with your academic programs,” Keen said. “As an

institute, you should always compare yourself with external

standards.”

Keen also served as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences in

the College at Cortland, which is in the system of State

University of New York.

“As dean, I continued to retain teaching responsibilities at

both the general education level and the senior level,” Keen

said.

Within the same college, Keen also served as chair of the

department of biological sciences and coordinator of the

environmental science program.

With a doctorate in ecology from Kent State University, Keen

taught biological sciences at Kent State University, University

of Virginia and College at Cortland.

Keen said all the colleges and universities he has worked and

taught at have been unionized in a fashion similar to Eastern.