Collegiate Times

The College of Science might undergo a change in command as the search for a new dean begins and continues throughout November.

The search for the new dean of the college was planned three years ago when an internal search was made; a deal was set up to hold a full-fledged search after the three year temporary term was over, according to a university-wide statement.

?We are conducting an international search which is a usual practice at this university,? said Mark McNamee, university provost and vice president for academic affairs. ?The deadline for all candidates is December 1, with hopes that something will be known by Christmas time.?

McNamee said the selection committee, along with the rest of the university, hopes to get a strong pool of candidates with the names. Their names will remain private until the list is narrowed to three or four applicants who will visit Blacksburg for interviews and discussion panels.

?The selection committee was appointed with mostly faculty in the college of science with a few administrative positions,? McNamee said. ?There will be no discussion until after December 1, with an open until full type of policy, the most serious candidates will most likely apply by that date.?

The selection committee is made up of a wide range of faculty who are in different departments in the College of Science. There are 22 members on the selection committee including McNamee and Robert Jones, department head for biological sciences.

?We are conducting an accelerated search which is atypical at this university, but there is no need to drag it out,? Jones said. ?The shorter the time frame, the better, because it reduces the instinct to become overly cautious within the selection process.?

McNamee said there are benefits in finding a new dean at an accelerated pace. The candidates know the decision will be made quickly and the faster the selection and the more confidence in the decision, then the more people there are that apply.

?More can be done if it?s done quickly, as it reduces the amount of uncertainty,? McNamee said. ?It is better for the college on the basis of planning purposes.?

Jones said the previous dean accepted a three-year term when the selection was made internally. The vision was that at the end of the three years, an international search would be conducted. This was set up in such a way because of the high number of dean searches being conducted that year and there was a lack of university resources as these searches takes a higher amount of money.

?There was a net increase of one college?two, technically?and there was a need for deans in these colleges,? Jones said. ?The current dean has verbally confessed his wish to reapply, but it?s unofficial until after December 1 to see if his application is actually submitted officially.?

According to the statement, the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences is also searching for a new dean with a similar setup to the search for the College of Science dean.

The current deans of the colleges are Jerry Niles for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and Lay Nam Chang for the College of Science.

Jones said members of the faculty have mixed feelings. Some don?t mind the change, whereas some are curious. Others are even nervous and worried about possible changes in policy.

McNamee said scheduling gets tricky around this time of year because of holidays, but when candidates on the short list visit, students and faculty members will have an opportunity to ask questions.

?We want to make sure the students will meet the candidates, as they will be affected as well,? McNamee said.