Digby fills in for Rushing while new dean is found

     A national search for a new dean for the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences has been underway since the departure of former dean, Dr. Beth Rushing on June 1.
     Dr. Anne V. Gormly, vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of Faculties, met with the faculty from SoLAS last April to discuss issues concerning the school, as well as what they were looking for in a new dean.
     They were also asked for recommendations on how the search committee would be structured, as well as who would sit on it. At that time, she also announced the interim, or temporary dean, for SoLAS.
     “I was looking for somebody who would be able to work effectively, and have the trust and respect of a lot people, and that obviously was Dr. Digby,” Gormly said.
     Dr. Michael Digby, chair of the Department of Government and Sociology, has been at GCSU for 37 years. He teaches Political Science and Public Administration.
     While he is not a candidate for the deanship, he is no stranger to the dean’s office having served a term in the 90s as assistant dean. In addition to his duties as interim dean, Digby will teach a graduate course in the Master of Public Administration program in the new center in Macon this semester.
     Gormly organized the search committee of nine faculty representatives from the different departments to represent the entire school. The chair of the committee is Dr. Martin Lammon, chair of the MFA Creative Writing Program.
     “I am optimistic that we are on track- time wise,” Gormly said. “We are getting a lot of inquires about the position. And it looks like there is already a good pool of candidates that are suitable.”
     SoLAS is the largest school with approximately 3,000 students, over 150 faculty, and ten academic departments.
     “One of the unique characteristics of this position is that we have strong expectations that the dean of liberal arts and sciences will work intimately and collaboratively with the dean of the John H. Lounsbury School of Education because the two schools are partners in teacher-educator preparation," Gormly said. “It’s not enough that you can just carry the banner for Arts and Sciences; you’ve got to work collectively with Education.”
     The committee met for the first time in May. Over the summer, the preannouncement ad was made which announcing the vacancy.
     A dean profile was also established describing what is being looked for in a SoLAS dean.
     A large ad was also placed in various journals, including the Chronicle of Higher Education. All ads and announcements were pre-approved by Gormly, as well as the institutional equity person for GCSU.
     So far, over 60 people have applied for the position. The estimation on applicants is several hundred by the beginning of October.
     At the end of October, the top eight or ten candidates will come to Georgia, and interviews will be conducted at a hotel near the Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Because the dean could come from any background, there is not one conference that the committee could go to interview candidates.
     The committee will choose approximately three candidates to bring to GCSU in early November for more interviewing. Here, the candidates will meet with faculty and students, as well as Gormly and President Dorothy Leland. Of these candidates, the committee will make a single recommendation to Gormly, who will make the final decision.
     “We are many different departments, many different disciplines: the humanities, the sciences, the arts. And it’s important that whoever we hire be someone who can represent the whole school. That’s probably very very important in who we hire,” Lammon said.
     “I am hoping that we have closure and an offer made by the end of this academic year, now when the person will be actually able to set foot on this campus remains uncertain because people do have obligations to their current positions,” Gormly said.
     Besides education and experience, the search committee and Gormly are also looking at all attributes the candidates bring to the campus.
     “Passion, enthusiasm, obviously experience is helpful, but I think that you’ve got to be able to listen and communicate well, and communication is both. You’ve got to be able to guide, stimulate, encourage- this is where the passion comes in,” Gormly said.
     The search committee will meet again on Oct. 5 to choose the top candidates for preliminary interviewing.
     “I am consciously optimistic. I am pleased so far. It looks that we’ve got some first class materials out there. [This] speaks well for the university, as well as the school,” Gormly said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 14 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry