A&S decides on new dean

     After a nine month search, the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences has selected a new dean, Kenneth Procter. Procter will come to GCSU from the University of Montevallo in Alabama, where he was Dean of the College of Fine Arts. He will take the place of Interim Dean Mike Digby.
     Procter has an MFA in Studio Art from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has written many papers, and has participated in many art exhibitions. At the University of Montevallo, he was previously chair of the art department and director of the honors programs.
     The search for a dean began in March after the departure of the previous dean, Beth Rushing. A committee was formed to identify what the faculty was looking for in the candidates and the opportunities and challenges that the school faced, and a search consultant was hired.
     GCSU used the committee’s information to compose a profile of the potential dean, and a profile of the school. Some of the desired qualifications were a doctorate or the highest degree in a field, at least five years of administrative experience, scholarly expertise and good communication skills.
     The profile also described the wide variety of programs available at GCSU and the benefits of a small liberal arts university, as well as the appeal of Milledgeville.
     “When you search you’re not just looking to select someone, but you’re also selling the school,” said Dr. Anne Gormly, vice president and dean of faculties.
     After advertising the opening nationwide, over 125 applicants applied for the position. From these, the field was narrowed down to nine candidates chosen for preliminary interviews.    These people were interviewed in Atlanta, and from this pool, three were chosen for on-campus interviews.
Procter was notified about the position by the search consultant and was intrigued.
     “(GCSU) is a sister school to where I am, and I thought it was interesting,” Procter said.
     On-campus interviews were particularly important because it was the first chance for applicants to interact with students and faculty in their environment.
     The three applicants were from various academic backgrounds, such as English, political science and art, they came from colleges in Florida, Texas and Alabama, but in the end, the committee chose Procter, partly because of his experience at a public liberal arts institution.
     “It was a hard choice. He related well to people, and he was previously a dean at a COPLAC (Council on Public Liberal Arts Colleges) school,” Gormly said.
     Procter will begin his position at GCSU on July 1. He will be seeking opinions by interacting with both students and faculty.   His job will be important in future growth and development in the liberal arts programs, such as the selection of department chairs for the art and theater departments.
     “I am looking forward to meeting all the people,” Procter said. “My first job is to learn about the school.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 18 2008. 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