Low attendance at forum for dean search

Only seven students attended the open forum to discuss the next dean of the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Wednesday. The discussion was led by Mark Todd, vice provost for Academic Operations, who is helping Provost Michael Quick in the search. The goal of this meeting was to get students’ input on what the search committee should be looking for in the next dean.

The advertisement for this position has been released, and applications will continue to be accepted until the end of December. This is an open search, meaning that applications will be considered from both inside and outside of the University. After interviews and campus visits, President C. L. Max Nikias will make the final decision on who to hire for this position.

“It would have to be someone from some of the disciplines in the college,” Todd said. “The college has humanities, social sciences, biological and natural sciences. It’s such a vast academic unit. I think what’s equally important is how this person is going to establish his or her leadership team that can really help with the various challenges or opportunities that exist in these different areas.”

Todd said the new dean would need to be both a respected academic and someone capable of collaborating with the other schools.

According to Todd, Nikias has referred to Dornsife as the “beating heart of the University.” Because of this, the new dean must be a great leader — one who understands the value of teaching, research faculty and will ultimately take the school to the next level of excellence.

Moira Turner, Diversity Affairs director of the Undergraduate Student Government, inquired about the role of diversity in the selection process.

“I am looking at the directory of the deans for Dornsife right now, and I was wondering what you are doing in terms of intentionality to select more people of color and women to fulfill this position,” she said. “I know that sometimes some work practices don’t account for biases that don’t necessarily seek out those kind of representatives from the community, so I’m wondering how you’re going to incorporate diversity in the selection process for the new dean.”

All 11 staff members of the Dean’s Office, including the dean, are white, and only three are women.

“We’re very, very intentional about [increasing diversity],” Todd said. “We put together a selection committee that is as diverse as we could, not just in ethnic diversity, but diversity within the college and faculty who are at different stages in tenure or non-tenure track. We are very sensitive to that. It’s very important.”

Michael Boateng, a junior studying cognitive science, added to this.

“We continue to grow, and there are different genders, races and sexualities that are coming into this University,” he said. “All of these are different trains of thought, and so I hope that the new dean that you choose is another step forward toward someone who can understand this diversity of thought.”

In addition to diversity, students said they want a dean who is accessible, transparent and engaging.

“In my past experience with the deans, it’s been a little difficult for us to see the dean of our college,” Boateng said. “I would like for them to have an itinerary of events of different organizations and clubs that they aim to attend to by the end of the semester. And on top of going to those events, they should provide a report talking about what they learned from these different organizations and clubs that they’ve been to.”

Students ultimately want to know the new dean and have accessibility to him or her. It took a few tries for the seven students to guess the current dean’s name. They finally guessed “Steve Kay” and said that the name “sounded familiar.”

“The dean really needs to be a presence,” Todd said. “It’s really important.”

In order to increase the dean’s accessibility, students suggested weekly office hours or monthly events to discuss topics and concerns with students. The seven attendees also hope that this new dean will provide more research and mentorship opportunities.

“Thank you so much for showing up, but where’s everybody else? What I really hope is that, especially when the candidates come, that the place is packed with people who really want to grill the dean,” Todd said.

Todd emphasized the importance of students in the selection process.

“It’s no small thing. This is your leader, and I really do encourage you guys to play an active role in the selection process. Please encourage everybody to do that,” he said. “You are free to send your thoughts and comments to the provost, and I really hope you do because it’s really important. We want to hear from the students as much as we can.”